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SERMONS 


VARIOUS   SUBJECTS, 


(now  first  collected.) 


TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED, 


J    TREATISE 


ON 


BY  ROBERT  HALL,  A.  M. 


J^EWYORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  EASTBURN,  KIRK,  &  CO. 

AX    THE   UTSRART   BOOUS,    CORNER   OF   WALL  AND   SASSAC-STRECTS. 


1814. 


^• 


1^  -r^  jAD.VERTISEMEIjtT 

Ofr 4^HE  AMERIGAIV  PtJBLISHERS. 


IN  presenting  this  collection  of  the  Sermons  of  Robert 
Hall,  the  publishers  believe  they  shall  render  equal  ser- 
vice to  the  interests  of  religion  as  to  the  republic  of  let- 
ters. 

To  a  mind  of  the  first  order,  stored  with  various  know- 
ledge, Mr.  Hall  adds  a  commanding  eloquence,  which  at 
once  informs,  persuades,  and  convinces  his  readers.  What- 
ever subject  he  takes  up  he  sees  it  as  a  whole,  and  in  the 
same  luminous  manner  in  which  he  sees  it  himself,  he  pre- 
sents it  to  others.  It  is  difficult,  which  most  to  admire — 
the  force  and  solidity  of  his  argumentative  powers,  or  the 
rich  glow  of  imagination,  shed  by  his  superior  genius  over 
every  page. 

The  effect  which  his  sermons  on  infidelity  produced, 
during  the  first  paroxisms  of  the  French  revolution,  is  yet 
fresh  in  the  recollections  of  thousands.  Never  were  the 
pernicious  principles,  the  dangerous  tendency,  or  the  ter- 
rible results  of  the  new  philosophy,  so  stiongly  or  so  justly 
portrayed,  as  by  this  great  man — And  perhaps  never  were 
talents  so  successfully  exerted  as  on  that  occasion.  His 
subs»'quent  productions  bear  all  the  marks  of  his  exalted 
powers,  and  the  publishers  feel  warranted  in  saying — that 
whoever  reads  the  sermons  of  Robert  Hall,  cannot  fail  to 
place  them  among  the  greatest  which  any  age  or  countjy 
has  produced. 


WITH    RESPSCT    TO    ITK 

A  SERMON, 


PHEACHED    AT 


THE  BAPTIST  MEETING> 

CAMBRIDGE,  ENGLAND. 


BY  ROBERT  HALL,  A.  M. 


Professing-  themselyes  to  be  wise  they  became  fools,. ...st.  tkVL, 

Sunt  qui  in  fortunx  jam  casibus,  omnia  ponant, 

Et  nuUo  credanl  mundiim  rectore  moveri, 

NaUirn  volvente  vices  ct  lucis,  et  anni : 

Alque  ideo  intrepidi  qusecunqiie  altaria  langunt.....jrT, 


FROM    THE    LATKST    LONDON    EDITION. 


.VEJr-lORlC: 

runHSIIED  BY  KASTBURN,  KIRK,  &  CO. 

IT    THE    LITERAHT    KOOMS,    tOKNEH    Of    WAIT.   AfD    NASr Ar-STBBKTH. 

18  14. 


rilAT  &  BO  WEN,  PRINTERS,  BROOKLTIT. 


PREFACE. 


THE  author  knows  not  whether  it  be  necessary  to 
apologize  for  the  extraordinary  length  of  this  ser- 
mon, which  so  much  exceeds  the  usual  limits  of 
public  discourses ;  for  it  is  only  for  the  reader  to 
conceive  (by  a  fiction  of  the  imagination,  if  he  pleases 
so  to  consider  it)  that  the  patience  of  his  audience 
indulged  him  with  their  attention  during  its  deliv- 
ery. The  fact  is,  not  being  in  the  habit  of  writing 
his  sermons,  this  discourse  was  not  committed  to 
paper,  till  after  it  was  delivered :  so  that  the  phrase- 
ology may  probably  vary,  and  the  bulk  be  some- 
what extended ;  but  the  substance  is  certainly 
retained. 

He  must  crave  the  indulgence  of  the  religious 
public  for  having  blended  so  little  theology  with  it. 
He  is  fully  aware  the  chief  attention  of  a  christian 
minister  should  be  occupied  in  explaining  the  doc- 
trines, and  enforcing  the  duties,  of  genuine  christi- 
anity.  Nor  is  he  chargeable,  he  hopes,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  public  functions,  with  any  remarkable 
deviation  from  that  rule  of  conduct :  yet  is  he 
equally  convinced,  excursions  into  other  topics  are 
sometimes  both  lawful  and  necessary.  The  versatil- 
ity of  error  demands  a  correspondent  variety  in  the 
methods  of  defending  truth  :    and  from  whom  have 


IV  PREFACE. 

the  public  more  right  to  expect  its  defence,  in  op- 
position to  the  encroachments  of  error  and  infidelity, 
than  from  those  who  profess  to  devote  their  studies 
and  their  lives  to  tiie  advancement  of  virtue  and 
religion  ?  Accordingly,  a  multitude  of  publications 
on  these  subjects,  equally  powerful  in  argument, 
and  impressive  in  manner,  have  issued  from  divines 
of  diUerent  persuasions,  which  must  be  allowed  to 
have  done  the  utmost  honour  to  the  clerical  profes- 
sion. The  most  luminous  statements  of  the  eviden- 
ces of  Christianity,  on  liistorical  grounds,  have  been 
made;  the  petulant  cavils  of  infidels  satisfactorily 
refuted  ;  and  their  ignorance,  if  not  put  to  shame, 
at  least  amply  exposed  :  so  that  revelation,  as  far 
as  truth  and  reason  can  prevail,  is  on  all  sides  tri- 
umphant. 

There  is  one  point  of  view%  however,  in  which 
the  respective  systems  remain  to  be  examined, 
which,  though  hitherto  little  considered,  is  forced 
upon  our  attention  by  the  present  conduct  of  our 
adversaries  ;  that  is,  their  ivjluence  on  society.  The 
controversy  appears  to  have  taken  a  new  turn.  The 
advocates  of  infidelity,  baffled  in  the  field  of  argu- 
ment,  though  unwilling  to  relinquish  the  contest, 
Jjave  changed  their  mode  of  attack ;  and  seem  less 
disposed  to  impugn  the  authority,  than  to  super- 
sede the  use  of  revealed  religion,  by  giving  such 
representations  of  man  and  of  society  as  are  calcu- 
lated to  make  its  sanctions  appear  unreasonable  and 


PREFACE.  V 

unnecessary.  Their  aim  is  not  so  much  to  discredit 
the  pretensions  of  any  particular  religion,  as  to  set 
aside  the  principles  common  to  all. 

To  obliterate  the  sense  of  Deity,  of  moral  sanc- 
tions, and  a  future  world  ;  and  by  tl»ese  means  to 
prepare  the  way  for  tiie  total  subversion  of  every  in- 
stitution, both  social  and  religious,  which  men  have 
l)een  liitherto  accustomed  to  revere,  is  evidently  the 
principal  object  of  modern  sceptics ;  tlic  first  so- 
phists who  have  avowed  an  attempt  to  govern 
the  world,  without  inculcating  the  persuasion  of  a 
superior  power.  It  might  well  excite  our  surprize 
to  behold  an  effort  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  religion, 
which  was  totally  unknown  during  the  prevalence 
of  gross  superstition,  reserved  for  a  period  of  the 
world  distinguished  from  every  other  by  the  posses- 
sion of  a  revelation  more  pure,  perfect,  and  better 
authenticated  than  the  enlightened  sages  of  antiquity 
ever  ventured  to  anticipate,  were  we  not  fully  per- 
suaded the  immaculate  holiness  of  this  revelation  is 
precisely  that  which  renders  it  disgusting  to  men 
who  are  determined  at  all  events  to  retain  their 
vices.  Our  Saviour  furnishes  the  solulion  :  They 
love  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds 
are  evil :  neither  will  theij  come  to  the  light,  lest 
their  deeds  should  be  reproved. 

While  all  the  religions,  the  Jewish  excepted, 
whicli,  previous  to  the  promulgation  of  Christianity, 


''W 


VI  PREFACE. 

prevailed  in  the  world,  partly  the  contrivance  of 
human  policy,  partly  the  offspring  of  ignorant  fear, 
mixed  with  the  mutilated  remains  of  traditionary  re- 
velation, were  favourable  to  the  indulgence  of 
some  vices,  and  but  feebly  restrained  the  practice 
of  others  ;  betwixt  vice  of  every  sort  and  in  every 
degree,  and  the  religion  of  Jesus,  there  subsists  an 
irreconeileal)le  enmity,  an  eternal  discord.  The 
dominion  of  Christianity  beiug  in  the  very  essence 
of  it  the  dominion  of  virtue,  we  need  look  no 
farther  for  the  sources  of  hostility  in  any  who  op- 
pose it,  than  their  attachment  to  vice  and  disorder. 

This  view  of  the  controversy,  if  it  be  just,  de- 
monstrates its  supreme  importance ;  and  furnishes 
the  strongest  plea  with  every  one  with  whom  it  is 
not  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  vice  or  virtue, 
delusion  or  truth,  govern  the  world,  to  exert  his 
talents  in  whatever  proportion  they  are  possessed, 
in  coTiitending  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints.  In  such  a  crisis,  is  it  not  best  for 
christians  of  all  denominations,  that  they  may  bet- 
ter concentrate  their  forces  against  the  common 
adversary,  to  suspend  for  the  present  their  internal 
disputes ;  imitating  the  policy  of  wise  states,  who 
have  never  failed  to  consider  the  invasion  of  an 
enemy  as  the  signal  for  terminating  the  contests  of 
party  ?  Internal  peace  is  the  best  fruit  we  can  reap 
from  external  danger.  The  momentous  contest  at 
issue  betwixt  tlie  christian  chwrch  and  infidels,  may 


PREFACE.  Vll 

instruct  us  how  trivial,  for  the  most  part,  are  the 
controversies  of  its  members  with  each  other ;  and 
that  the  different  ceremonies,  opinions,  and  prac- 
tices, by  which  they  are  distinguished,  correspond 
to  the  variety  of  feature  and  complexion  discernible 
in  the  offspring  of  the  same  parent,  among  whom 
there  subsists  the  greatest  family  likeness.  May 
it  please  God  so  to  dispose  the  minds  of  christians 
of  every  visible  church  and  community,  that 
Ephraim  may  no  longer  vex  Judah,  nor  Judah 
Ephraim ;  that  the  only  rivalry  felt  in  future  may 
be,  who  shall  most  advance  the  interests  of  our 
common  Christianity ;  and  the  only  provocation 
sustained,  that  of  provoking  each  other  to  love  and 
good  works  f  When  at  the  distance  of  more  than 
half  a  century,  Christianity  was  assaulted  by  a 
Woolston,  a  Tindal,  and  a  Morgan,  it  was  ably  sup- 
ported, both  by  clergymen  of  the  established  church, 
and  writers  among  protestant  dissenters.  The  la- 
bours of  a  Clarke  and  a  Butler  were  associated 
with  those  of  sl  Doddridge,  a  Leland,  and  a  Lavdner, 
with  such  equal  reputation  and  success,  as  to  make 
it  evident  that  the  intrinsic  excellence  of  religion 
needs  not  the  aid  of  external  appendages  :  but  that, 
with  or  without  a  dowry,  her  charms  arc  of  suffici- 
ent power  to  fix  and  engage  the  heart. 

The  writer  of  this  discourse  will  feel  himself  hap- 
py, should  his  example  stimulate  any  of  his  bre- 
thren, of  superior  abilities,  to  contribute  their  exer- 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

tions  in  so  good  a  cause.     His  apology  for  not  en- 
tering more  at  large  into  the  proofs  of  the  being  of 
a  God,*  and  the  evidences  of  Christianity,!  is,  that 
these  subjects  have  been  already  handled  with  great 
ability  by  various  writers ;  and  that  he  wished  ra- 
ther to  confine  himself  to  one  view  of  the  subject — 
The  total  incompatibility  of  sceptical  principles  with 
the  existence  of  society.   Should  his  life  be  spared, 
he  may  probably,  at  some  future  time,  enter  into  a 
fuller  and  more  particular  examination  of  the  infidel 
philosophy,    both  with   respect  to  its   speculative 
principles,   and   its  practical   eflfects  ;  its  influence 
on   society,   and  on  the   individual.     In  the  mean 
time,  he  humbly  consecrates  this   discourse  to  the 
honour  of  that  Saviour,  who,  when  the  means  of  a 
more   liberal  offering  arc  wanting,    commends  the 
widow's  mite. 

*  See  an  excellent  Sermon  on  atheism,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Estlin,  of  Bris- 
tol, at  whose  meeting  the  substance  of  this  discourse  was  first  preached. 
In  the  sermon  referred  to,  the  argument  for  the  existence  of  a  Deity  is 
stated  with  the  utmest  clearness  and  precision ;  and  the  !»ophistry  of 
Dupuis,  a.  French  im".dtl,  refuted  in  a  very  satisfactoryu^ manner. 

-)•  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  name  a  work  so  universally  known  as  Dr. 

Paley's  Vicxo  of  the  Evidences  of  Christianity,  which  is  probably,  without 

exception,  the  most   clear  and  satisfactory  statement  of  the  historical 

jjroofs  of  the  christian  religion  ever  exhibited  in  any  age  or  country. 

Cambhidge,  P 
Jan.  18.      S 


yvv.  r,f   -,  v^ 


SERMON. 


EPHES.  CHAP.  2,  VERSE  12. 

Without  God  in  the   World. 


-if"-. 


As  the  christian  ministry  is  established  for  the 
instruction  of  men,  throughout  every  age,  in  truth 
and  holiness,  it  must  adapt  itself  to  the  ever- shift- 
ing scenes  of  the  moral  world,  and  stand  ready  to 
repel  the  attacks  of  impiety  and  error,  under  what- 
ever form  they  may  appear.  The  church  and  the 
world  form  two  societies  so  distinct,  and  are  gov- 
erned by  such  opposite  principles  and  maxims,  that, 
as  well  from  this  contrariety,  as  from  the  express 
warnings  of  scripture,  true  christians  must  look  for 
a  state  of  warfare,  with  this  consoling  assurance, 
that  the  church,  like  the  burning  bush  beheld  by 
Moses  in  the  land  of  Midian,  may  be  encompassed 
with  flames,  but  will  never  be  consumed. 

When  she  was  delivered   from  the  persecuting 
power  of  Rome,  she  only  experienced  a  change  of 


10 

trials.  The  oppression  of  external  violence  wa» 
followed  by  the  more  dangerous  and  insidious  at- 
tacks of  internal  enemies.  The  freedom  of  enquiry 
claimed  and  asserted  at  the  reformation,  degene- 
rated, in  the  hands  of  men  who  professed  the  prin- 
ciples without  possessing  the  spirit  of  the  reformers, 
into  a  fondness  for  speculative  refinements ;  and 
consequently  into  a  source  of  dispute,  faction  and 
heresy.  While  protestauts  attended  more  to  the 
points  on  which  they  differed,  than  to  those  in 
which  they  ag^'eed  ;  while  more  zeal  was  employed 
in  settling  ceremonies  and  defending  subtleties,  than 
in  enforcing  plain  revealed  truths,  the  lovely  fruits 
of  peace  and  charity  perished  under  the  storms  of 
controversy. 

In  this  disjointed  and  disordered  state  of  the 
christian  church,  they  who  never  looked  into  the 
interior  of  Christianity  were  apt  to  suspect,  that  to 
a  subject  so  fruitful  in  particular  disputes,  must  at- 
tach a  general  uncertainty  ;  and  that  a  religion 
founded  on  revelation  could  never  havetxJccasioned 
such  discordancy  of  principle  and  practice  amongst 
its  disciples.  Thus  infidelity  is  the  joint  offspring 
of  an  irreligious  temper,  and  unholy  speculation, 
employed,  not  in  examining  the  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity, but  in  detecting  the  vices  and  imperfec- 
tions of  professing  cliristians.  It  has  passed 
through  various  stages,  each  distinguished  by 
higher  gradations  of  impiety;  for  when  men  arro 


11 

gantly  abandon  their  guide,  and  wilfully  shut  their 
eyes  on  the  light  of  heaven,  it  is  wisely  ordained 
that  their  errors  shall  multiply  at  every  step,  until 
their  extravagance  confutes  itself,  and  the  mischief 
of  their  principles  works  its  own  antidote.  That 
such  has  been  the  progress  of  infidelity,  will  be 
obvious  from  a  slight  survey  of  its  history. 

Lord  Herbert,  the  first  and  purest  of  our  En- 
^Vish  free -thinkers  J  who  flourished  in  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First,  did  not  so  much 
impugn  the  doctrine  or  the  morality  of  the  scrip- 
tures, as  attempt  to  supersede  their  necessity,  by 
endeavouring  to  shew  that  the  great  principles  of  tbe 
unity  of  God,  a  moral  government,  and  a  future 
world,  are  taught  with  sufficient  clearness  by  the 
light  of  nature.  Bolingbroke,  and  others  of  his 
successors,  advanced  much  farther,  and  attempted 
to  invalidate  the  proofs  of  the  moral  character  of 
the  Deity,  and  consequently  all  expectations  of  re- 
wards and  punishments  ;  leaving  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing no  other  perfections  than  those  which  belong  to 
a  first  cause,  or  almighty  contriver.  After  him,  at 
a  considerable  distance,  followed  Hume,  the  most 
subtle,  if  not  the  most  philosophical  of  the  deists; 
who,  by  perplexing  the  relations  of  cause  and  ef- 
fect, boldly  aimed  to  introduce  an  universal 
scepticism,  and  to  pour  a  more  than  Egyptian  dark- 
ness into  the  whole  region  of  morals.  Since  his  time 
sceptical  writers  have  sprung  up  inr  abundance,  and 


infidelity  has  allured  multitudes  to  its  standard  :  the 
young  and  superficial  by  its  dexterous  sophistry,  the 
vain  by  the  literary  fame  of  its  champions,  and  the 
profligate  by  the  licentiousness  of  its  principles. 
Atheism,  the  most  undisguised,  has  at  length  beg|[n 
to  make  its  appearance. 

Animated  by  numbers,  and  emboldened  by  suc- 
cess, the  infidels  of  the  present  day  have  given  a 
new  direction  to  their  efforts,  and  impressed  a  uc\r 
character  on  the  ever-growing  mass  of  their  impious 
speculators. 

By  uniting  more  closely  with  each  other,  by  giv- 
ing a  sprinkling  of  irreligion  to  all  theirliterary  pro- 
ductions, they  aim  to  eugross  the  fj)rmation  of  the 
public  mind  ;  and,  amidst  the  warmest  professions 
of  attachment  to  virtue,  to  effect  an  entire  disrup- 
tion of  morality  from  religion.  Pretending  to  1)3 
the  teachers  of  virtue,  and  the  guides  of  life,  they 
propose  to  revolutionize  the  morals  of  mankind  ;  to 
regenerate  the  world,  by  a  process  entirely  new ; 
and  to  rear  the  temple  of  virtue,  not  merely  without 
the  aid  of  religion,  but  on  the  renunciation  of  its 
prijiciples,  and  the  derision  of  its  sanctions.  Tlieir 
party  has  derived  a  great  accession  of  numbers  and 
strength  from  events  the  most  momentous  and  as- 
tonishing in  the  political  world,  which  have  divided 
the  sentiments  of  Europe  betwixt  hope  and  terror ; 
and  however  they  may  issue,  have  for  the  present. 


13 

swelled  the  ranks  of  infidelity.  So  rapidly,  indeed^ 
has  it  advanced  since  this  crisis,  that  a  great  majority 
on  the  continent,  and  in  England  a  considerable 
proportion  of  those  who  pursue  literature  as  a  pro- 
fession,*  may  justly  be  considered  as  tlie  open  or 
disguised  abettors  of  atheism. 

With  respect  to  the  sceptical  and  religious  sys- 
tems, the  enquiry  at  present  is  not  so  much  which  is 
the  truest  in  speculation,  as  which  is  the  most  use- 
ful in  practice  :  or,  in  other  words,  whether  moral- 
ity will  be  best  promoted  by  considering  it  as  a  part 
of  a  great  and  comprehensive  law,  emanating  from 
the  will  of  a  supreme,  omnipotent  legislator ;  or  as 
a  mere  expedient,  adapted  to  our  present  situation, 
enforced  by  no  other  motives,  than  those  which 
arise  from  the  prospects  and  interests  of  the  present 
state.  The  absurdity  of  atheism  having  been  de- 
monstrated so  often  and  so  clearly  by  many  eminent 
men,  that  this  part  of  the  subject  is  exhausted,  F 
should  hasten  immediately  to  what  I  have  more 
particularly  in  view,  were  I  not  apprehensive  a  dis- 
course of  this  kind  may  be  expected  to  contain  some 
statement  of  the  argument  in  proof  of  a  Deity,  which, 
therefore,  I  shall  present  in  as  few  and  plain  words 
as  possible. 


•  By  those  who  pursue  literatuj-e  as  a  profession,  the  autlior  would  be 
understood  to  mean  that  numerous  class  of  literary  men  who  draw  their 
principal  subsistence  fr^jm  their  writ'ngs. 


14 

When  we  examine  a  watch,  or  any  other  piece  of 
machinery,  we  instantly  perceive  marks  of  design. 
The  arrangement  of  its  several  parts,  and  tha 
adaptation  of  its  movements  to  one  result,  shew  it 
to  be  a  contrivance  ;  nor  do  we  ever  imagine  the 
faculty  of  contriving  to  be  in  the  watch  itself,  but 
in  a  separate  agent.  If  we  turn  from  art  to  nature, 
we  behold  a  vast  magazine  of  contrivances  ;  we  sea 
innumerable  objects  replete  with  the  most  exquisite 
design.  The  human  eye,  for  example,  is  formed 
with  admirable  skill  for  the  purpose  of  sight,  the  ear 
for  the  function  of  hearing.  As  in  the  productions 
of  art  we  never  think  of  ascribing  the  power  of 
contrivance  to  the  machine  itself,  so  we  are  certain 
the  skill  displayed  in  the  human  structure  is  not  a 
property  of  man,  since  he  is  very  imperfectly  ac- 
quainted with  his  own  formation.  If  there  be  an 
inseparable  relation  betwixt  the  ideas  of  a  contri- 
vance and  a  contriver;  and  it  be  evident,  in  regard 
to  the  human  structure,  the  designing  agent  is  not 
man  himself,  there  must  undeniably  be  some  sepa- 
rate invisible  being,  who  is  his  former.  This  great 
Being  we  mean  to  indicate  by  the  appellation  of 
Deity. 

This  reasoning  admits  but  of  one  reply.  Why,  it 
will  be  said,  may  we  not  suppose  the  world  has  al- 
ways continued  as  it  is;  that  is,  that  there  has  been 
a  constant  succession  of  finite  beings,  appearing  and 
disappearing  on  the  earth  from  all  eternity  ?  I  an- 


id 

swer,  whatever  is  supposed  to  have  occasioned  this 
constant  succession,  exclusive  of  an  intelligent  cause, 
will  never  account  for  the  undeniable  marks  of  de- 
sign visible  in  all  finite  beings.  Nor  is  the  absurd- 
ity of  supposing  a  contrivance  without  a  contriver 
diminished  by  this  imaginary  succession ;  but 
rather  increased,  by  being  repeated  at  every  step  of 
the  series. 

Besides,  an  eternal  succession  of  finite  beings  in- 
volves in  it  a  contradiction,  and  is  therefore  plainly 
impossible.  As  the  supposition  is  made  to  get  quit 
of  the  idea  of  any  one  having  existed  from  eternity, 
each  of  the  beings  in  the  succession  must  have  be- 
gun in  time  ;  but  the  succession  itself  is  eternal. 
We  have  then  the  succession  of  beings  infinitely 
earlier  than  any  being  in  the  succession  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  a  series  of  beings  running  on,  ad  infi- 
nitum^  before  it  reached  any  particular  being,  which 
is  absurd. 

From  these  considerations  it  is  manifest  there 
must  be  some  eternal  Being,  or  nothing  could  ever 
have  existed  :  and  since  the  beings  which  we  behold 
bear  in  their  whole  structure  evident  marks  of  wis- 
dom and  design,  it  is  equally  certain  tliat  he  who 
formed  them  is  a  wise  and  intelligent  agent. 


16 

To  prove  the  unity  of  this  great  Being,  in  opposi- 
tion to  a  plurality  of  Gods,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
have  recourse  to  metaphysical  abstractions.  It  is 
sufficient  to  observe,  that  the  notion  of  more  than 
one  author  of  nature  is  inconsistent  with  that  har- 
mony of  design  which  pervades  her  works  ;  that  it 
solves  no  appearances,  is  supported  by  no  evidence, 
and  serves  no  purpose,  but  to  embarrass  and  perplex 
our  conceptions. 

Such  are  the  proofs  of  the  existence  of  that  great 
and  glorious  Being  whom  we  denominate  God  :  and 
it  is  not  presumption  to  say,  it  is  impossible  to  find 
another  truth  in  the  whole  compass  of  morals,  which, 
according  to  the  justest  laws  of  reasoning,  admits 
of  such  strict  and  rigorous  demonstration. 

But  I  proceed  to  the  more  immediate  object  of  this 
discourse,  which,  as  has  been  already  intimated,  is 
not  so  much  to  evince  the  falsehood  of  scepticism  as 
a  theory,  as  to  display  its  mischievous  effects,  con- 
trasted with  those  which  result  from  the  belief  of  a 
Bcity,  and  a  future  state.  The  subject,  viewed  in 
this  light,  may  be  considered  under  two  aspects ; 
tlie  inilueiice  of  the  opposite  systems  on  the  princi- 
ples of  morals,  and  on  the  formation  of  character. 
The  first  may  be  styled  their  direct,  the  latter  their 
equally  important,  but  indirect  consequence  and 
tendency 


17 

I.  The  sceptical,  or  irreligious  system,  subverts 
the  whole  foundation  of  morals.  It  may  be  assumed 
as  a  maxim,  that  no  person  can  be  required  to  act 
contrary  to  his  greatest  good,  or  his  highest  inter- 
est, comprehensively  viewed  in  relation  to  the  whole 
duration  of  his  being.  It  is  often  our  duty  to  forego 
our  own  interest  partially,  to  saoriilce  a  smaller 
pleasure  for  the  sake  of  a  greater,  to  incur  a  present 
evil  in  pursuit  of  a  distant  good  of  more  conse- 
quence. In  a  word,  to^ arbitrate  amongst  interfer- 
ing claims  of  inclination  is  the  moral  arithmetic  of 
human  life. — But  to  risque  the  happiness  of  the 
whole  duration  of  our  being  in  any  case  whatever, 
admitting  it  to  be  possible,  would  be  foolish ; 
because  the  sacrifice  must,  by  the  nature  of  it, 
be  so  great  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  com- 
pensation. 

As  the  present  world  on  sceptical  principles,  is 
the  only  place  of  recompeuce,  whenever  tiie 
practice  of  virtue  fails  to  promise  the  greatest  sum 
of  present  good,  cases  which  often  occur  in  reality, 
and  much  oftener  in  appearance,  every  motive  to 
Tirtuous  conduct  is  superseded ;  a  deviation  from 
rectitude  becomes  the  part  of  wisdom  ;  and  should 
the  path  of  virtue,  in  addition  to  this,  be  obstructed 
by  disgrace,  torment  or  death,  to  persevere  would 
be  madness  and  folly,  and  a  violation  of  the  first 
and  most  essential  law  of  nature.  Virtue,  on  these 
principles,  beingin  numberless  instances  at  war  with 

3 


18 

self-preservation,  never  can,   or  ought  to  become, 
a  fixed  habit  of  the  mind. 

Tlie  system  of  infidelity  is  not  only  incapable  of 
arming  virtue  for  great  and  trying  occasions,  but 
leaves  it  unsupported  in  the  most  ordinary  occur- 
rences. In  vain  will  its  advocates  appeal  to  a  mo- 
ral sense,  to  benevolence  and  sympathy.  In  vain 
"will  they  expatiate  on  the  tranquillity  and  plea- 
sure attendant  on  a  virtuouA  course  ;  for  it  is  unde- 
niable that  these  impulses  may  be  overcome :  and 
though  you  may  remind  the  oifender  that  in  disre- 
garding them  he  has  violated  his  nature,  and  that 
a  conduct  consistent  with  them  is  productive  of 
much  internal  satisfaction  ;  yet  if  he  repl^^  that  his 
taste  is  of  a  different  sort,  that  there  are  ether 
gratifications  which  he  values  more,  and  that  every 
man  must  choose  his  own  pleasures,  the  argument 
is  at  an  end. 

Rewards  and  punishments,,  awarded  by  omnipo- 
tent power,  afford  a  palpable  and  pressing  motive 
which  can  never  be  neglected  without  renouncing 
the  character  of  a  rational  creature  :  but  tastes  and 
relishes  are  not  to  be  prescribed. 

A  motive  in  which  the  reason  of  man  shall  acqui- 
esce, enforcing  the  practice  of  virtue  at  all  times  and 
seasons,  enters  into  the  very  essence  of  moral  obli- 
gation.    Modern  infidelity  supplies  no  such  mo* 


19 

lives :  it  is  therefore   essentially  and  infallibly  a 
system  of  enervationj  turpitude  and  vice. 

This  chasm'  in  the  construction  of  morals  can 
only  be  supplied  by  the  firm  belief  of  a  rewarding 
and  avenging  Deity,  who  binds  duty  and  happi- 
ness, though  they  may  seem  distant,  in  an  indisso- 
luble chain  ;  without  which,  whatever  usurps  the 
name  of  virtue,  is  not  a  principle,  but  a  feeling  ; 
Dot  a  determinate  rule,  but  a  fluctuating  expedient, 
varying  with  the  tastes  of  individuals;,  and  chang- 
ing with  the  scenes  of  life. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  way  in  which  infidelity  sub- 
verts the  foundation  of  morals.  All  reasoning  on 
morals  pre-supposes  a  distinction  between  inclina- 
tions and  duties,  aifections  and  rules.  The  former 
prompt ;  the  latter  prescribe.  The  former  supply 
motives  to  action ;  the  latter  regulate  and  control 
it.  Hence  it  is  evident,  if  virtue  have  any  just  claim 
to  authority,  it  must  be  under  the  latter  of  these  no- 
tions ;  that  is  under  the  character  of  a  law.  It  is 
under  this  notion,  in  fact,  that  its  dominion  has  ever 
been  acknowledged  to  be  paramount  and  supreme. 

But,  without  the  intervention  of  a  superior  will,  it 
is  impossible  there  should  be  any  moral  laws,  except 
in  the  lax  metaphorical  sense  iu  which  we  speak  of 
the  laws  of  matter  and  motion.  Men  being  essen- 
tially equal,  nnu-alily  is,  on  these  principles,  only  a 


so 

stipulation,  or  silent  compact,  into  which  every  indi- 
vidual is  supposed  to  enter,  as  far  as  suits  his  con- 
venience, and  for  the  breach  of  which  he  is  account- 
able to  nothing  but  his  own  mind.  His  own  mind 
is  his  law,  his  tribunal,  and  his  judge  ! 

Two  consequences,  the  most  disastrous  to  soci- 
ety, will  inevitably  follow  the  general  prevalence  of 
thia  system ;  the  frequent  perpetration  of  great 
crimes,  and  the  total  absence  of  great  virtues. 

i.  In  those  conjunctures  which  tempt  avarice  or 
inflame  ambition,  when  a  crime  ilatters  with  the 
prospect  of  impunity,  and  the  certainty  of  immense 
advantage,  what  is  to  restrain  an  atheist  from  its 
commission  ?  To  say  that  remorse  will  deter  him, 
is  absurd  :  for  remorse,  as  distinguished  from  pity, 
is  the  sole  offspring  of  religious  belief,  the  extinc- 
tion  of  which  is  the  great  purpose  of  the  infldel 
philosophy. 

The  dread  of  punishment,  or  infamy,  from  his 
fellow-creatures,  will  bean  equally  ineffectual  bar- 
rier; because  crimes  are  only  committed  under 
such  circumstances  as  suggest  the  hope  of  conceal- 
ment :  not  to  say  that  crimes  themselves  will  soon 
lose  their  infamy  and  their  horror,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  that  system  which  destroys  the  sanctity  of 
virtue,  by  converting  it  into  a  low  calculation  of 
worldly  interest.     Here  the  sense  of  an  ever-present 


Ruler,  and  of  an  avenging  Judge,  is  of  the  mo&t  aw- 
ful and  indispensable  necessity  ;  as  it  is  that  alone 
which  impresses  on  all  crimes  the  character  of /oZ/y, 
shews  that  duty  and  interest  in  every  instance  coin- 
cide, and  that  the  most  prosperous  career  of  vice, 
the  most  brilliant  successes  of  criminality,  are  but 
an  accumulation  of  icrath  against  the  day  of  wrath. 

As  the  frequent  perpetration  of  great  crimes  is  an 
inevitable  consequence  of  the  diffusion  of  sceptical 
principles  ;  so,  to  understand  this  consequence  in 
its  full  extent,  we  must  look  beyond  their  immedi- 
ate effects,  and  consider  the  disruption  of  social 
ties,  the  destruction  of  confidence,  the  terror,  suspi- 
cion and  hatred,  which  must  prevail  in  that  state  of 
society  in  which  barbarous  deeds  are  familiar. 
The  tranquillity  which  pervades  a  well-ordered 
community,  and  the  mutual  good  offices  which  bind 
its  members  together,  is  founded  on  an  implied  con- 
fidence in  the  disposition  to  annoy  ;  in  the  justice, 
humanity,  and  moderation  of  those  among  whom 
we  dwell.  So  that  the  worst  consequence  of  crimes 
is,  that  they  impair  the  stock  of  public  charity  and 
general  tenderness.  The  dread  and  hatred  of  our 
species  would  infallibly  be  grafted  on  a  conviction 
that  we  were  exposed  every  moment  to  the  surges 
of  an  unbridled  ferocity,  and  that  nothing  but  the 
power  of  the  magistrate  stood  between  us  and  the 
daggers  of  assassins.     In  such  a  state,  laws,    deri- 


ving  no  support  from  public  manners,  are  unequal 
to  the  task  of  curbing  the  fury  of  the  passions  ; 
which,  from  being  concentrated  into  selfishness, 
fear,  and  revenge,  acquire  new  force.  Terror  and 
suspicion  beget  cruelty,  and  inflict  injuries  by  way 
of  prevention.  Pity  is  extinguished  in  the  strong- 
er impulse  of  self-preservation.  The  tender  and 
generous  affections  are  crushed  ;  and  nothing  is 
seen  but  the  retaliation  of  wrongs,  the  fierce  and 
unmitigated  struggle  for  superiority.  This  is  but 
a  faint  sketch  of  the  incalculable  calamities  and  hor- 
rors we  must  expect,  should  we  be  so  unfortunate  as 
ever  to  witness  the  triumph  of  modern  infidelity. 

S.  This  system  is  a  soil  as  barren  of  great  and 
sublime  virtues  as  it  is  prolific  in  crimes.  By 
great  and  sublime  virtues  are  meant,  those  which 
are  called  into  action  on  great  and  trying  occasions, 
which  demand  the  sacrifice  of  the  dearest  interests 
and  prospects  of  human  life,  and  sometimes  of  life 
itself.  The  virtues,  in  a  word,  which,  by  their 
rarity  and  splendour,  draw  admiration,  and  have 
rendered  illustrious  the  character  of  patriots,  mar- 
tyrs, and  confessors.  It  requires  but  little  reflec- 
tion to  perceive,  that  whatever  veils  a  future  world, 
and  contracts  the  limits  of  existence  within  the 
present  life,  must  tend,  in  a  proportionable  degree, 
to  diminish  the  grandeur  and  narrow  the  sphere  of 
human  agency. 


23 

As  well  might  you  expect  exalted  sentiments  of 
justice  from  a  professed  gamester,  as  look  for  noble 
principles  in  the  man  whose  hopes  and  fears  are 
all  suspended  on  tlie  present  moment,  and  who 
stakes  the  whole  happiness  of  his  being  on  the 
events  of  this  vain  and  fleeting  life.  If  he  be  ever 
impelled  to  the  performance  of  great  achievements 
in  a  good  cause,  it  must  be  solely  by  the  hope  of 
fame  ;  a  motive  which,  besides  that  it  makes  virtue 
the  servant  of  opinion,  usually  grows  weaker  at 
the  approach  of  death  ;  and  which,  however  it  may 
surmount  tlie  love  of  existence  in  the  heat  of  battle, 
or  in  the  moment  of  public  observation,  can  seldom 
be  expected  to  operate  with  much  force  on  the 
retired  duties  of  a  private  station. 

In  affirming  that  infidelity  is  unfavourable  to  the 
higher  class  of  virtues,  we  are  supported  as  well 
by  facts  as  by  reasoning.  We  should  be  sorry  to 
load  our  adversaries  with  unmerited  reproach  :  but 
to  what  history,  to  what  record  will  they  appeal 
for  the  traits  of  moral  greatness  exhibited  by  their 
disciples  ?  Where  shall  we  look  for  the  trophies  of 
infidel  magnanimity,  or  atheistical  virtue  ?  Not  that 
we  mean  to  accuse  them  of  inactivity:  they  have 
recently  filled  the  world  with  the  fame  of  tlieir 
exploits  ;  exploits  of  a  different  kind  indeed,  but  of 
imperishable  memory,  and  disastrous  lustre. 


S4 

Though  it  is  confessed  great  and  splendid 
actions  are  not  the  ordinary  employment  of  life,  but 
must,  from  their  nature,  be  reserved  for  high  and 
eminent  occasions ;  yet  that  system  is  essentially 
defective  which  leaves  no  room  for  their  cultivation. 
They  are  important,  both  from  their  immediate  ad- 
vantage and  their  remoter  influence.  They  oftea 
save,  and  always  illustrate,  the  age  and  nation  in 
which  they  appear.  They  raise  the  standard  of 
morals ;  they  arrest  the  progress  of  degeneracy ; 
they  diffuse  a  lustre  over  the  path  of  life ;  monu- 
ments of  the  greatness  of  the  human  soul,  they  pre- 
sent  to  the  world  the  august  image  of  virtue  in  her 
sublimest  form,  from  which  streams  of  light  and 
glory  issue  to  remote  times  and  ages ;  while  their 
commemoration,  by  the  pen  of  historians  and  poets, 
awakens  in  distant  bosoms  the  sparks  of  kindred 
excellence. 

Combine  tlie  frequent  and  familiar  perpetration  of 
atrocious  deeds  with  the  dearth  of  great  and  gener- 
ous actions,  and  you  have  the  exact  picture  of  that 
condition  of  society  which  completes  the  degrada- 
tion of  the  species  :  the  frightful  contrast  of  dwarfish 
virtues  and  gigantic  vices,  where  every  thing  good 
is  mean  and  little,  and  every  thing  evil  is  rank  and 
luxuriant :  a  dead  and  sickening  uniformity  pre- 
vails,  broken  only  at  intervals  by  volcanic  eruptions 
of  anarchy  and  crime. 


II.  Hitherto  we  have  considered  the  influence  of 
scepticism  on  the  principles  of  virtue  ;  and  have 
endeavoured  to  shew  that  it  despoils  it  of  its  dignity, 
and  lays  its  authority  in  the  dust.  Its  influence  on 
the  formation  of  character  remains  to  be  examined. 
The  actions  of  men  are  oftener  determined  by  their 
character  than  their  interest :  their  conduct  takes 
its  colour  more  from  their  acquired  taste,  inclina- 
tions, and  habits,  than  from  a  deliberate  regard  to 
their  greatest  good.  It  is  only  on  great  occasions 
the  mind  awakes  to  take  an  extended  survey  of  her 
whole  course,  and  that  she  suffers  the  dictates  of 
reason  to  impress  a  new  bias  upon  her  movements. 
The  actions  of  each  day  are,  for  the  most  part, 
links  which  follow  each  other  in  the  chain  of  cus- 
tom. Hence  the  great  effort  of  practical  wisdom  is 
to  imbue  the  mind  with  right  tastes,  affections,  and 
habits  ;  the  elements  of  character,  and  masters  of 
action. 

The  exclusion  of  a  Supreme  Being,  and  of  a  su- 
perintending providence,  tends  directly  to  the  des- 
truction of  moral  taste.  It  rol)s  the  universe  of  all 
finished  and  consummate  excellence  even  in  idea. 
The  admiration  of  perfect  wisdom  and  goodness 
for  which  we  are  formed,  and  which  kindle  such  un- 
speakable rapture  in  the  soul,  finding  in  the  regions 
of  scepticism  nothing  to  which  it  corresponds, 
droops  and  languishes.  In  a  world  which  presents 
a  fair  spectacle  of  order  and  beauty,  of  a  vast  family 

4. 


uourislied  and  supported  by  an  almighty  Parent ; 
in  a  world  which  leads  the  devDut  mind,  step  by 
step,  to  the  contemplation  of  the  first  fair  and  the 
fust  good,  the  sceptic  is  encompassed  with  nothing 
but  obscurity,  meanness,  and  disorder. 

When  we  reflect  on  the  manner  in  which  the 
idea  of  Deity  is  formed,  we  must  be  convinced  that 
such  an  idea  intimately  present  to  the  mind,  must 
have  a  most  powerful  effect  in  refining  the  moral 
taste.  Composed  of  the  richest  elements,  it  em- 
braces, in  the  character  of  a  beneficent  Parent  and 
almighty  Ruler,  whatever  is  venerable  in  wisdom, 
whatever  is  awful  in  authority,  whatever  is  touch- 
ing  in  goodness. 

Human  excellence  is  blended  with  many  imper- 
fections, and  seen  under  many  limitations.  It  is 
beheld  only  in  detached  and  separate  portions, 
nor  ever  appears  in  any  one  character  whole  and 
entire.  So  that  when,  in  imitation  of  the  Stoics, 
we  wish  to  form  out  of  these  fragments  the  notion 
of  a  perfectly  wise  and  good  man,  we  know  it  is  a 
mere  fiction  of  the  mind,  without  any  real  being  in 
whom  it  is  embodied  and  realized.  In  the  belief 
of  a  Deity,  these  conceptions  are  reduced  to  a  real- 
ity :  the  scattered  rays  of  an  ideal  excellence  are 
concentrated,  and  become  the  real  attributes  of  that 
Being  with  whom  we  stand  in  the  nearest  relation, 
who  sits  supreme  at  the  head  of  the  universe,   is 


^7 

armed  witli  infinite  power,  and  pervades  all  nature 
with  his  presence. 

The  efficacy  of  these  sentiments  in  producing 
and  augmenting  a  virtuous  taste  will  indeed  be  pro- 
portioned to  the  vividness  with  which  they  are 
formed,  and  the  frequency  with  which  they  recur; 
yet  some  benefit  will  not  fail  to  result  from  them 
even  in  their  lowest  degree. 

The  idea  of  the  Supreme  Being  has  this  peculiar 
property ;  that,  as  it  admits  of  no  substitute,  so, 
from  the  first  moment  it  is  impressed,  it  is  capable 
of  continual  growth  and  enlargement.  God  him- 
self  is  immutable  ;  but  our  conception  of  his  char- 
acter is  continually  receiving  fresh  accessions,  is 
continually  growing  more  extended  and  refulgent, 
by  having  transferred  upon  it  new  perceptions  of 
beauty  and  goodness ;  by  attracting  to  itself,  as  a 
centre,  whatever  bears  the  impress  of  dignity,  or- 
der or  happiness.  It  borrows  splendour  from  all 
that  is  fair,  subordinates  to  itself  all  that  is  great, 
and  sits  enthroned  on  the  riches  of  the  universe. 

As  the  object  of  worship  will  always  be,  in  a 
degree,  the  object  of  imitation,  hence  arises  a  fixed 
standard  of  moral  excellence  ;  by  the  contempla- 
tion of  which  the  tendencies  to  corruption  are  coun- 
teracted, the  contagion  of  bad  example  is  checked, 
and  human  nature  rises  above  its  natural  lercl. 


When  the  knowledge  of  God  was  lost  in  the 
world,  just  ideas  of  virtue  and  moral  obligation 
disappeared  along  with  it.  How  is  it  to  be  other- 
wise accounted  for,  that  in  the  polished  nations, 
and  in  the  enlightened  times  of  pagan  antiquity,  the 
most  unnatural  lusts  and  detestable  impurities  were 
not  only  tolerated  in  private  life,*  but  entered  into 
religion,  and  formed  a  material  part  of  public  wor- 
ship ;t  while  among  the  Jews,  a  people  so  much 
inferior  in  every  other  branch  of  knowledge,  the 
same  vices  were  regarded  with  horror? 

The  reason  is  this  :  The  true  character  of  God 
was  unknown  to  the  former,  which  by  the  light  of 
divine  revelation  was  imparted  to  the  latter.  The 
former  cast  their  deities  in  the  mould  of  their  own 


*  It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  the  eleg'ant  and  philosophic  Xeno- 
phon,  in  delineating^  th  -^  model  of  a  perfect  prince  in  the  character  of 
Cyrus,  introduces  a  Mede  who  had  formed  an  unnatural  passion  for  his 
hero  ;  and  relates  tlie  incident  in  a  lively,  festive  humour,  without  being 
in  the  least  conscious  of  any  indelicacy  attached  to  it. — What  must  be 
the  state  of  manners  in  a  country  whei'e  a  circumstance  of  this  kind, 
feigned,  no  doubt,  by  way  of  ornament,  finds  a  place  in  such  a  work  ? 
Cyri  Instil.  Lib.  1. 

Deinde  nobis  qui  concedentibus  phllosophis  antiquis,  adolescentulis  de- 
lectamur  etiam  vitia  saepe  jucunda  sunt.     Cicero  de  j\'at.  Dei  Lib.  1. 

■j- JVaHj  quo  n-jii  prostat  fcemina  templo.     jvv. 

The  impurities  practised  in  the  worship  of  Isis,  an  Egyptian  deity, 
rose  to  such  a  height  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  that  that  profligate  prince 
thought  fit  to  prohibit  her  worship,  and  at  the  same  time  inflicted  on 
her  priests  the  punishment  of  crucifixion.  Joseph,  Antiquit,  Judaic. 
L.  18. 


29 

iniagiuatious,  ia  consequence  of  which  they  par- 
took  of  the  vices  and  defects  of  their  worshippers. 
To  the  latter,  no  scope  was  left  for  the  wander- 
ings of  fancy ;  but  a  pure  and  perfect  model  was 
prescribed. 

False  and  corrupt^  however,  as  was  the  religion 
of  the  pagans  ;  (if  it  deserve  the  name)  and  defec- 
tive, and  often  vicious,  as  was  the  character  of  their 
imaginary  deities,  it  was  still  better  for  the  world 
for  the  void  of  knowledge  to  be  filled  with  these, 
than  abandoned  to  a  total  scepticism ;  for  if  both 
systems   are   equally   false,  they  are   not  equally 
pernicious.     When  the  fictions  of  heathenism  con. 
secrated  the  memory  of  its  legislators  and  heroes, 
it  invested  them  for  the  most  part  with  those  quali- 
ties which  were  in  the  greatest  repute.   They  were 
supposed  to  possess  in  the  highest  degree  the  vir- 
tues   in  which  it  was  most  honourable  to  excel ; 
and  to  be  the  witnesses,  approvers  and  patrons  of 
those   perfections   in  others,   by  which   their  own 
character  was  chiefly  distinguished.     Men  saw,  or 
rather  fancied  they  saw,  in  these  supposed  deities, 
the  qualities  they  most  admired,  dilated  to  a  larger 
size,   moving  in  a  higher   sphere,    and    associated 
with  the  power,  dignity,  and  happiness  of  superior 
natures.     With  such    ideal  models    before    them, 
and  conceiving  themselves  continually  acting  under 
the  eye  of  such   spectators  and  judges,   they  felt  a 
real  elevation ;  their  eloquence  became  more  im- 


BO 

passioned,  their  patriotism  inflamed,  and  their  cou- 
rage exalted. 

Revelation,  by  displaying  the  true  character  of 
God,  affords  a  pure  and  perfect  standard  of  virtue; 
heathenism,  one  in  many  respects  defective  and  vi- 
cious ;  the  fashionable  scepticism  of  the  present 
day,  vi^hich  excludes  the  belief  of  all  superior  pow- 
ers, affords  no  standard  at  all.  Human  nature 
knows  nothing  better  or  higher  than  itself.  All 
above  and  around  it  being  shrouded  in  darkness, 
and  the  prospect  confined  to  the  tame  realities  of 
life,  virtue  has  no  room  upwards  to  expand;  nor 
are  any  excursions  permitted  into  that  unseen 
world,  the  true  element  of  the  great  and  good,  by 
which  it  is  fortified  with  motives  equally  calculated 
to  satisfy  the  reason,  to  delight  tho  fancy,  and  to 
impress  the  heart. 

III.  Modern  infidelity  not  only  tends  to  corrupt 
the  moral  taste  ;  it  also  promotes  the  growth  of 
those  vices  which  are  the  most  hostile  to  social  hap- 
piness. Of  all  the  vices  incident  to  human  nature, 
the  most  destructive  to  society,  are  vanity,  ferocity, 
and  unbridled  sensuality  ;  and  these  are  precisely 
the  vices  which  infidelity  is  calculated  to  cherish. 

That  the  love,  fear,  and  habitual  contemplation 
of  a  Being  infinitely  exalted,  or  in  other  words, 
devotion,  is  adapted  to  promote  a  sober  and  mode- 


rate  estimate  of  our  ewn  excellencies,  is  incontcs- 
tible ;  Hor  is  it  less  evident  that  the  exclusion  of 
such  sentiments  must  be  favourable  to  pride.  The 
criminality  of  pride  will,  perhaps,  be  less  readily 
admitted ;  for  though  there  is  no  vice  so  opposite  to 
the  spirit  of  Christianity,  yet  there  is  none  which, 
even  in  the  christian  world,  has,  under  various  pre- 
tences^ been  treated  with  so  much  indulgence. 

There  is,  it  will  be  confessed,  a  delicate  sensi- 
bility to  character,  a  sober  desire  of  reputation,  a 
wish  to  possess  the  esteem  of  the  wise  and  good, 
felt  by  the  purest  minds,  and  which  is  at  the  farth- 
est remove  from  arrogance  or  vanity.  The  humility 
of  a  noble  mind  scarcely  dares  to  approve  of  itself, 
until  it  has  secured  the  approbation  of  others.  Very 
different  is  that  restless  desire  of  distinction,  that 
passion  for  theatrical  display,  which  inflames  the 
heart  and  occupies  the  whole  attention  of  vain  men. 
This,  of  all  the  passions,  is  the  most  unsocial,  avarice 
itself  not  excepted.  The  reason  is  plain.  Property 
is  a  kind  of  good  which  may  be  more  easily  attained, 
and  is  capable  of  more  minute  subdivisions  than 
fame.  In  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  men  are  led  by  an 
attention  to  their  own  interest  to  promote  the  wel- 
fare of  each  other ;  their  advantages  are  reciprocal ; 
the  benefits  which  each  is  anxious  to  acquire  for 
}iimself  he  reaps  in  the  greatest  abundance  from  the 
union  and  conjunction  of  society.  The  pursuits  of 
vanity  are  quite  contrary.     The  portion  of  time  and 


attention  mankind  are  willing  to  spare  fVom  their 
avocations  and  pleasures  to  devote  to  tlie  admira- 
tion of  each  other  is  so  small,  that  every  successful 
adventurer  is  felt  to  have  impaired  the  common 
stock.  The  success  of  one  is  the  disappointment 
of  multitudes.  For  though  there  be  many  rich, 
many  virtuous,  many  wise  men,  fame  must  necessa- 
rily be  the  portion  of  but  few.  Hence  every  vain 
man,  every  man  in  whom  vanity  is  the  ruling  pas 
sion,  regarding  his  rival  as  his  enemy,  is  strongly 
tempted  to  rejoice  in  his  miscarriage,  and  repine  at 
his  success. 

Besides,  as  the  passions  are  seldom  seen  in  a 
simple,  unmixed  state,  so  vanity,  when  it  succeeds^ 
degenerates  into  arrogance  :  when  it  is  disappointed 
(and  it  is  often  disapponted)  it  is  exasperated  into 
malignity,  and  corrupted  into  envy.  In  this  stage 
the  vain  man  commences  a  determined  misanthro- 
pist. He  detests  that  excellence  which  he  cannot 
reach.  He  detests  his  species,  and  longs  to  be  re- 
venged for  the  unpardonable  injustice  he  has  sus- 
tained in  their  insensibility  to  his  merits.  He  lives 
upon  the  calamities  of  the  world  ;  the  vices  and 
miseries  of  men  are  his  element  and  his  food.  Vir- 
tue, talents,  and  genius,  arc  his  natural  enemies, 
which  he  persecutes  with  instinctive  eagerness,  and 
unrelenting  hostility.  There  are  who  doubt  the 
existence  of  such  a  disposition ;  but  it  certainly 
issues  out  of  the  dregs  of  disappointed  vanity:  a 


33 

disease  which  taints  ami  vitiates  the  whole  charac- 
ter wherever  it  prevails.  It  forms  the  heart  to 
such  a  profound  iudiflference  to  the  welfare  of 
others,  that  whatever  appearances  he  may  assume, 
or  however  wide  the  circle  of  his  seeming  virtues 
may  extend,  you  will  infallibly  find  the  vain  man  is 
his  own  centre.  Attentive  only  to  himself,  absorbed 
in  the  contemplation  of  his  own  perfections,  instead 
of  feeling  tenderness  for  his  fellow  creatures,  as 
members  of  tlie  same  family,  as  beings  with  whom 
he  is  appointed  to  act,  to  suffer,  and  to  sympathize ; 
he  considers  life  as  a  stage  on  which  he  is  perform- 
ing a  part,  and  mankind  in  no  other  light  than  spec- 
tators. Whether  he  smiles  or  frowns,  whether  his 
path  is  adorned  with  the  rays  of  beneficence,  or  his 
steps  are  dyed  in  blood,  an  attention  to  self  is  the 
spring  of  every  movement,  and  the  motive  to  which 
every  action  is  referred. 

His  apparent  good  qualities  lose  all  their  worth, 
by  losing  all  that  is  simple,  genuine,  and  natural : 
they  are  even  pressed  into  the  service  of  vanity, 
and  become  the  means  of  enlarging  its  power.  The 
truly  good  man  is  jealous  over  himself,  lest  the  no- 
toriety of  his  best  actions  by  blending  itself  with 
their  motive,  should  diminish  their  value ;  the  vain 
man  performs  the  same  actions  for  the  sake  of  that 
notoriety.  The  good  man  quietly  discharges  his 
duty,  and  shuns  ostentation ;  the  vain  man  consi- 
ders every  good  deed  lost  that  is  not  publicly  dis 


S4 

played.  The  one  is  intent  upon  realities,  the  other 
upon  semblances:  the  one  aims  to  be  virtuous,  the 
other  to  appear  so. 

Nor  is  a  mind  inflated  with  vanity  more  disqua- 
lified for  right  action  than  just  speculation,  or  bet- 
ter disposed  to  the  pursuit  of  truth  than  the  practice 
of  virtue.     To  such  a  mind  the.  simplicity  of  truth 
is  disgusting.     Careless  of  the  improvement  of  man- 
kind,  and  intent  only  upon   astonishing  with  the 
appearance  of  novelty,  the  glare  of  paradox  will  be 
preferred  to  the  light  of  truth  ;  opinions  will  be 
embraced,  not  because,  they  are  just,  but  because 
they  are  new  :  the  more  flagitious,  the  more  subver- 
sive of  morals,  the   more  alarming  to  the  wise  and 
good,  the  more  welcome  to  men  who  estimate  their 
literary  powers  by  the  mischief  they  produce,  and 
who  consider  the  anxiety   and  terror  they  impress 
as  the  measure  of  their  renown.     Truth  is  simple 
and  uniform,  while  error  may  be  infinitely  varied ; 
and  as  it  is   one  tiling  to  start  paradoxes,   and  an- 
other to  make  discoveries,  we  need  the  less  wonder 
at  the  prodigious  increase  of  modern  philosophers. 

"We  have  been  so  much  accustomed  to  consider 
extravagant  self  estimation  merely  as  a  ridiculous 
quality,  that  many  will  be  surprised  to  find  it  treated 
as  a  vice  pregnant  with  serious  mischief  to  society. 
But,  to  form  a  judgment  on  its  influence  on  the  man- 
ners and  happiness  of  a  nation,  it  is  necessary  only 


35 

to  look  at  its  effects  in  a  family;  for  bodies  of  men 
are  only  collectious  of  iiulividuals,  and  the  great- 
est nation  is  nothing  more  than  an  aggregate  of  a 
number  of  families.     Conceive  ofa  domestic  circle, 
in  which  each  member  is  elatefl  with  a  most  extrav- 
agant opinion  of  himself,  and  a  proportionable  con- 
tempt of  every  other;  is  full  of  little  contrivances 
to  catch  applause,  and  whenever  he  is  not  praised 
is  sullen  and  disappointed.     What  a  picture  of  dis- 
union, disgust,  and  animosity  would  such  a  family 
present !     How  utterly  would  domestic  affection  be 
extinguished,  and  all  the  purposes  of  domestic  soci- 
ety be  defeated  !     The  general  prevalence  of  such 
dispositions  must  be  accompanied  by  an^equal  pro- 
portion of  general  misery.     The  tendencyvpf  pride 
to  produce  strife  and  hatred  is  sufficiently  apparent 
from  the  pains  men  have  been  at  to  construct  a  sys- 
tem of  politeness  which  is  nothing  more  than  a  sort 
of  mimic  humility,   in   which  the   sentiments  of  an 
offensive   self-estimation   are  so  far  disguised  and 
suppressed  as  to  make   them   compatible   with   the 
spirit  of  society  ;  such  a  mode  of  behaviour  as  would 
naturally  result  from  an  attention  to  the  apostolic 
injunction  :  Let  nothing  be  done  through  strife  or 
vain  glory  ;  but,  in  loicliness  ofmind^let  each  esteem 
other  better  than  themselves.     But  if  the  semblance 
be  of  such  importance,  how  much  more  useful  tlie 
reality  !    If  the   mere   i^arb   of  humility  be  of  such 
indispensable  necessity  that  without  it  society  could 
not  subsist,  how   much  better  still    would  the  har- 


86 

iiiony  of  the  world  be  preserved,  were  the  conde- 
scension, deferf nee,  and  respect,  so  studiously  dis- 
played, atr,ue  nkture  of  the  heart? 

and  eager  vanity  wHich  dis- 
n  icvis  permitted  in  a  great  na- 
with  political  affairs,  distracts 
into  those  entrusted  with  the 
spirit  of  rash  innovation  and 
a  disdain  of  the  established 
a  foolish  desire  to  dazzle  the 
untried  systems  of  policy,  in 
ts  of  antiquity  and  the  experi- 
ly  consulted  to  be  trodden  un- 
e  executive  department  of  gov- 
tiVnment,  a  tierce  contention  for  pre-eminence,  an 
incessant  struggle  to  supplant  and  destroy,  with  a 
propensity  to  calumny  and  suspicion,  proscription 
and  massacre. 


We  shall  suffer  the  most  eventful  season  ever 
witnessed  in  the  affairs  of  men  to  pass  over  our 
heads  to  very  little  purpose,  if  we  fail  to  learn  from 
it  some  awful  lessons  on  the  nature  and  progress 
of  the  passions.  The  true  li£;ht  in  which  the  French 
revolution  ought  to  be  contemplated  is  that  of  a 
grand  experiment  on  human  nature.  Among  the 
various  passions  which  that  revolution  has  so  strik- 
ingly displayed,  none  is  more  conspicuous  than 
vanity ;  nor  is  it  less  diiilcult,  without  adverting  to 


37 

the  national  character  of  the  people,  to  account  foe 
its  extraordinary  pretlomiuance.  Political  power, 
the  most  seducing  object  of  ambition,  never  before 
circulated  through  so  many  hands :  the  prospect  of 
possessing  it  was  never  before  presented  to  so  many 
minds.  Multitudes  who,  by  their  birth  and  educa- 
tion, and  not  unfrequently  by  their  talents,  seemed 
destined  to  perpetual  obscurity,  where  by  the  alter- 
nate rise  and  fall  of  parties,  elevated  into  distinc- 
tion, and  shared  in  the  functions  of  government. 
The  short-lived  forms  of  power  and  (►fiBce  glided 
with  such  rapidity  through  successive  ranks  of  de- 
gradation, from  the  court  to  the  very  dregs  of  tlie 
populace,  that  they  seemed  rather  to  solicit  accept* 
ance  than  to  be  a  prize  contended  for.*  Yet,  as  it 
was  impossible  for  all  to  possess  authority,  though 
none  were  willing  to  obey,  a  general  impatience  to 
break  the  ranks  and  rush  into  the  foremost  ground, 
maddened  and  infuriated  the  nation,  and  over- 
whelmed law,  order,  and  civilization,  with  the  vio- 
lence of  a  torrent. 

If  such  be  the  mischiefs  both  in  pu])lie  and  pri- 
vate life  resulting  from  an  excessive  self-estimation, 
it  remains  next  to  be  considered  whether  providence 
bas  supplied  any  medicine  to  correct  it :  for  as  the 
reflection  on  excellencies,  whether  real  or  imagin- 


ut;quo  pulsat  peJc  pauperum  tabernas 


■Regumque  turres.        iloB. 


38 

ary,  is  always  attended  with  pleasure  to  the  pos- 
sessor, it  is  a  disease  deeply  seated  in  our  nature. 

Suppose  there  were  a  great  and  glorious  Being 
always  present  with  us,  who  had  given  us  existence 
with  numl>erless  other  blessings,  and  on  whom  we 
depended  each  instant,  as  well  for  every  present 
enjoyment  as  for  every  future  good  ;  suppose  again 
we  had  incurred  the  just  displeasure  of  such  a 
Being  by  ingratitude  and  disobedience,  yet  that  in 
great  mercy  he  had  not  cast  us  off,  but  had  assured 
us  he  was  willing  to  pardon  and  restore  us  on  our 
humble  intreaty  and  sincere  repentance  ;  say,  would 
not  an  habitual  sense  of  the  presence  of  this  Being, 
self-reproach  for  having  displeased  him,  and  an 
anxiety  to  recover  his  favour  be  the  most  effectual 
antidote  to  pride  ?  But  such  are  the  leadiug  dis- 
coveries made  by  the  christian  revelation,  and  such 
the  dispositions  which  a  practical  belief  of  it  in- 
spires. 

Humility  is  the  first  fruit  of  religion.  In  the 
mouth  of  our  Lord  there  is  no  maxim  so  frequent 
as  the  following  :  Whosoever  exalteth  himself  shall 
he  abased,  and  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  ex- 
alted. Religion,  and  that  alone,  teaches  absolute 
humility  ;  by  which  I  mean  a  sense  of  our  absolute 
nothingness  in  the  view  of  infinite  greatness  and 
excellence.  That  sense  of  inferiority  which  results 
from  the  comparison  of  men  with  each  other,  is  of- 


ten  an  unwelcome  sentiment  forced  upon  the  mind, 
which  may  rather  emhitter  the  temper  than  soften 
it :  that  which  devotion  impresses  is  soothing  and 
delightful.  The  devout  man  loves  to  lie  low  at  the 
footstool  of  his  Creator,  because  it  is  then  he  attains 
the  most  lively  perceptions  of  the  divine  excellence, 
and  the  most  tranquil  confidence  in  the  divine  fa- 
vour. In  so  august  a  presence  he  sees  all  distinc- 
tions lost,  and  all  beings  reduced  to  the  same 
level.  He  looks  at  his  superiors  without  envy,  and 
his  inferiors  without  contempt :  and  when  from  this 
elevation  he  descends  to  mix  in  society,  the  convic- 
tion of  superiority,  which  must  in  many  instances 
be  felt,  is  a  calm  inference  of  the  understanding, 
and  no  longer  a  busy,  importunate  passion  of  the 
heart, 

TJie  wicked  (says  the  Psalmist)  through  the  pride 
of  their  countenance,  will  not  seek  after  God: 
God  is  not  in  all  their  tJioughts.  When  we  consider 
the  incredible  vanity  of  the  atheistical  sect,  toge- 
ther with  the  settled  malignity  and  unrelenting  ran- 
cour with  which  they  pursue  every  vestige  of  reli- 
gion, is  it  uncandid  to  suppose  that  its  humblinii; 
tendency  is  one  principal  cause  of  their  enmity  : 
that  they  are  eager  to  displace  a  Deity  from  the 
minds  of  men,  that  they  may  occupy  the  void  ;  to 
crumble  the  throne  of  the  Eternal  into  dust,  that 
they  may  elevate  themselves  on  its  ruins ;  and  tliat 


40 

as  their  licentiousness  is  impatient  of  restraint,  so 
their  pride  disdains  a  superior? 

We  mentioned  a  ferocity  of  character  as  one  eftcci 
of  sceptical  impiety  It  is  an  inconvenience  attend- 
ing a  controversy  with  those  with  whom  we  have 
few  principles  in  common,  that  we  are  often  in  dan- 
ger of  reasoning  inconclusively,  for  the  want  of  its 
being  clearly  known  and  settled  what  our  opponents 
admit,  and  what  they  deny.  The  persons,  for  ex- 
ample, with  whom  we  are  at  present  engaged,  have 
discarded  humility  and  modesty  from  the  catalogue 
of  virtues  ;  on  which  account  we  have  employed  the 
more  time  in  evincing  their  importance  :  but  what- 
ever may  be  thought  of  humility  as  a  virtue^  it  surely 
will  not  be  denied  that  inhumanity  is  a  most  detest- 
able vice  ;  a  vice,  however,  which  scepticism  has  a 
most  powerful  tendency  to  inflame. 

As  we  have  already  shewn  that  pride  hardens  the 
heart,  and  that  religion  is  the  only  effectual  antidote, 
the  connexion  between  irreligion  and  inhumanity 
is  in  this  view  obvious.  But  there  is  another  light 
in  which  this  part  of  the  subject  may  be  viewed,  in 
ray  humble  opinion,  much  more  important,  though 
seldom  adverted  to.  The  supposition  that  man 
is  a  moral  and  accountable  being,  destined  to  sur- 
vive the  stroke  of  death,  and  to  live  in  a  future  world 
in  a  never-ending  state   of  happiness  or  misery, 


makes  him  a  creature  of  incomparably  more  conse- 
quence than  the  opposite  supposition.  When  we 
consider  him  as  placed  here  by  an  almighty  Ruler 
in  a  state  of  probation,  and  that  the  present  life  is 
his  period  of  trial,  the  first  link  in  a  vast  and  inter- 
minable chain  which  stretches  into  eternity,  he  as- 
sumes a  dignified  character  in  our  eyes.  Every 
thing  which  relates  to  him  becomes  interesting; 
and  to  trifle  with  his  happiness  is  felt  to  be  the  most 
unpardonable  levity.  If  such  be  the  destination  of 
man,  it  is  evident  that  in  the  qualities  which  fit  him 
for  it  his  principal  dignity  consists  :  his  moral  great- 
ness is  his  true  greatness.  Let  the  sceptical  prin- 
cipals be  admitted,  which  represent  him,  on  the 
contrary,  as  the  offspring  of  chance,  connected  with 
no  superior  power,  and  sinking  into  annihilation  at 
death,  and  he  is  a  contemptible  creature,  whose  ex- 
istence and  happiness  are  insignificant.  The  cha- 
racteristic difference  is  lost  betwixt  him  and  the 
brute  creation,  from  which  he  is  no  longer  distin- 
guished, except  by  the  vividness  and  multiplicity  of 
his  perceptions. 

If  we  reflect  on  that  part  of  our  nature  which 
disposes  us  to  humanity,  we  shall  find  that,  where 
we  have  no  particular  attachment,  our  sympathy 
with  the  sufferings,  and  concern  for  the  destruction 
of  sensitive  beings,  is  in  proportion  to  their  sup- 
posed importance  in  the  general  scale  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  to  their  supposed  capacity  of  enjoyment. 

Q 


4S 

We  feel,  for  example,  much  more  at  witnessing  the 
destruction  of  a  man  than  of  an  inferior  animal,  be- 
cause we  consider  it  as  involving  the  extinction  of 
a  much  greater  sum  of  happiness.  For  the  same 
reason,  he  who  would  shudder  at  the  slaughter  of  a 
large  animal,  will  see  a  thousand  insects  perish 
without  a  pang.  Our  sympathy  with  the  calamities 
of  our  fellow- creatures  is  adjusted  to  the  same  pro- 
portions :  for  we  feel  more  powerfully  affected  with 
the  distresses  of  fallen  greatness,  than  with  equal  or 
greater  distresses  sustained  by  persons  of  inferior 
rank ;  because,  having  been  accustomed  to  associate 
with  an  elevated  station,  the  idea  of  superior  hap- 
piness, the  loss  appears  the  greater,  and  the  wreck 
more  extensive.  But  the  disproportion  in  import- 
ance betwixt  man  and  the  meanest  insect,  is  not  so 
great  as  that  which  subsists  betwixt  man  consid- 
ered as  mortal  Sind  as  immortal;  that  is,  betwixt  man 
as  he  is  represented  by  the  system  of  scepticism, 
and  that  of  divine  revelation :  for  the  enjoyment 
of  the  meanest  insect  bears  some  proportion,  though 
a  very  small  one,  to  the  present  happiness  of  man ; 
but  the  happiness  of  time  bears  none  at  all  to  that 
of  eternity.  The  sceptical  system,  therefore,  sinks 
the  importance  of  human  existence  to  an  inconceiv- 
able degree. 

From  these  principles  results  the  following  im- 
portant inference — that  to  extinguish  human  life  by 
the  hand  of  violence,  must  be  quite  a  diferent  thing 


4i3 

in  the  eyes  of  a  sceptic  from  what  it  is  in  those  of  a 
christian.  With  the  sceptic  it  is  nothing  move  than 
diverting  the  course  of  a  little  red  fluid,  called 
blood ;  it  is  merely  lessening  the  number  by  one  of 
many  millions  of  fugitive  contemptible  creatures. 
The  christian  sees  in  the  same  event  an  accountable 
being  cut  off  from  a  state  of  probation,  and  hurried, 
perhaps  unprepared,  into  the  presence  of  his  Judge, 
to  hear  that  final,  that  irrevocable  sentence,  which 
is  to  fix  liim  forever  in  an  unalterable  condition  of 
felicity  or  woe.  The  former  perceives  in  death 
nothing  but  its  physical  circumstances ;  the  latter  is 
impressed  with  the  magnitude  of  its  moral  conse- 
(^uences.  It  is  the  moral  relation  which  man  is 
supposed  to  bear  to  a  superior  power,  the  awful  idea 
of  accountability,  the  influence  which  his  present 
dispositions  and  actions  are  conceived  to  have  upon 
his  eternal  destiny,  more  than  any  superiority  of 
intellectual  powers  abstracted  from  these  consid- 
erations, which  invest  him  with  such  mysterious 
grandeur,  and  constitute  the  firmest  guard  on  the 
sanctuary  of  human  life.  This  reasoning,  it  is  true, 
serves  more  immediately  to  shew  how  the  disbelief 
of  a  future  state  endangers  the  security  of  life  ;  but 
though  this  be  [indirect  consequence,  it  extends  by 
analogy  mucli  farther,  since  he  who  has  learned  to 
sport  with  the  lives  of  his  fellow-creatures  will  feel 
but  little  solicitude  for  their  welfare  in  any  other 
instance  ;  but,  as  the  greater  includes  the  less,  will 


4.4i 

easily  pass  from  this  to  all  the  inferior  gradations 
of  barbarity. 

As  the  advantage  of  the  armed  over  the  unarmed 
is  not  seen  till  the  moment  of  attack,  so  in  that  tran- 
quil state  of  society,  ia  which  law  and  order  main- 
tain their  ascendency,  it  is  not  perceived,  perhaps 
not  even  suspected,  to  what  an  alarming  degree  the 
principles  of  modern  infidelity  leave  us  naked  and 
defenceless.  But  let  the  state  be  convulsed,  let 
the  mounds  of  regular  authority  be  once  overflowed, 
and  the  still  small  voice  of  law  drowned  in  the  temp- 
est of  popular  fury,  (events  which  recent  experi- 
ence shews  to  be  possible)  it  will  then  be  seen  that 
atheism  is  a  school  of  ferocity ;  and  that  having 
taught  its  disciples  to  consider  mankind  as  little 
better  than  a  nest  of  insects,  they  will  be  prepared 
in  the  fierce  conflicts  of  party  to  trample  upon  them 
without  pity,  and  extinguish  them  without  remorse. 

It  was  late*  before  the  atheism  of  Epicurus  gain- 
ed footing  at  Rome ;  but  its  prevalence  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  such  scenes  of  proscription,  confiscation 
and  blood,  as  were  then  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  the  world  ;  from  which  the  republic  being  never 
able  to  recover  itself,  after  many  unsuccessful  strug- 

*  Ncquc  enim  asscntior  iis  qui  hac  nnper  disscrare  coeperiint  cum 
corporibus  simul  auimos  intcrrire  atque  onmln  morte  deleri.  Cicero  dc 
Amicitia. 


49 

gles,  exchanged  liberty  for  repose,  by  submission  to 
absolute  power.  Such  were  the  effects  of  atheism 
at  Rome.  An  attempt  has  been  recently  made  to 
establish  a  similar  system  in  France,  the  conse- 
quences of  which  are  too  well  known  to  render  it 
requisite  for  me  to  shock  your  feelings  by  a  recital. 
The  only  doubt  that  can  arise  is,  whether  the  bar- 
barities which  have  stained  the  revolution  in  that 
unhappy  country  are  justly  chargeable  on  the  prev- 
alence of  atheism.  Let  those  who  doubt  of  this, 
recollect  that  the  men  who,  by  their  activity  and 
talents  prepared  the  minds  of  the  people  for  that 
great  change — Voltaire,  D^Alembert,  Diderot, 
Rousseau,  and  others,  were  avowed  enemies  of  rev- 
elation ;  and  in  all  their  writings  the  diffusion  of 
scepticism  and  revolutionary  principles  went  hand 
in  hand  ;  that  the  fury  of  the  most  sanguinary  par- 
ties was  especially  pointed  against  the  christian 
priesthood  and  religious  institutions,  without  once 
pretending,  like  other  persecutors,  to  execute  the 
vengeance  of  God  (whose  name  they  never  men- 
tioned) upon  his  enemies;  that  their  atrocities  were 
committed  with  a  wanton  levity  and  brutal  merri- 
ment;  that  the  reign  of  atheism  was  avowedly  and 
expressly  the  reign  of  terror ;  that  in  the  full  madness 
of  their  career,  in  the  highest  climax  of  their  hor- 
rors, they  shut  up  the  temples  of  God,  abolished  his 
worship,  and  proclaimed  death  to  be  an  eternal 
sleep ;  as  if,  by  pointing  to  the  silence  of  the  sepul- 
chre, and  the  sleep  of  the  dead,  these  ferocious  bar- 


46 

barians  meant  to  apologize  fov  leaving  neither  sleep, 
quiet,  nor  repose  to  the  living. 

As  the  heathens  fabled  that  Minerva  issued  full 
armed  from  the  head  of  Jupiter,  so  no  sooner  were 
the  speculations  of  atheistical  philosophy  matured, 
thaa  they  gave  birth  to  a  ferocity  which  converted 
the  most  polished  ]>eople  in  Europe  into  a  horde 
of  assassins  ;  the  seat  of  voluptuous  refinement,  of 
pleasure  and  of  arts,  into  a  theatre  of  blood. 

Having  already  shewn  that  the  principles  of  infi- 
delity facilitate  the  commission  of  crimes,  by  re- 
moving the  restraints  of  fear ;  and  that  they  foster 
the  arrogance  of  the  individual,  while  they  inculcate 
the  most  despicable  opinion  of  the  species ;  the  in- 
evitable result  is,  that  a  haughty  self-confidence,  a 
contempt  of  mankind,  together  with  a  daring  defi- 
ance of  religious  restraints,  are  the  natural  ingredi- 
ents of  the  atheistical  character;  nor  is  it  less  evi- 
dent that  these  are,  of  all  others,  the  dispositions 
which  most  forcibly  stimulate  to  violence  and 
cruelty. 

Settle  it  therefore  in  your  minds,  as  a  maxim 
never  to  be  effaced  or  forgotten,  that  atheism  is  an 
inhuman,  bloody,  ferocious  system,  equally  hostile 
to  every  useful  restraint,  and  to  every  virtuous  af- 
fection ;  that,  leaving  nothing  above  us  to  excite 
awe,  nor  around  us  to  awaken  tenderness,  it  wages 


47 

war  with  heaven  and  with  earth ;  its  first  object  is 
to  dethrone  God,  its  next  to  destroy  man.* 

There  is  a  third  vice,  not  less  destructive  to  socie- 
ty than  either  of  those  which  liave  been  already 
mentioned,  to  which  the  system  of  modern  infidelity 
is  favourable ;  that  is,  unbridled  sensuality,  the  li- 
centious and  unrestrained  indulgence  of  tliose  pas- 
sions which  are  essential  to  the  continuation  of  the 
species.  The  magnitude  of  these  passions,  and 
their  supreme  importance  to  the  existence  as  well 
as  the  peace  and  welfare  of  society,  have  rendered 
it  one  of  the  first  objects  of  solicitude  with  every 
wise  legislator,  to  restrain  them  by  such  laws,  and  to 
confine  their  indulgence  within  such  limits  as  shall 
best  promote  the  great  ends  for  which  they  were  im- 
planted. 

The  benevolence  and  wisdom  of  the  Author  of 
Christianity  are  eminently  conspicuous  in  the  laws 
he  has  enacted  on  this  branch  of  morals  ;  for,  while 
he  authorises  marriage,  he  restrains  the  vagrancy 
and  caprice  of  the  passions,  by  forbidding  polygamy 

As  human  nature  is  the  same  in  all  ages,  it  is  not  surprising'  to  find 
the  same  moral  systems,  even  in  the  most  dissimilar  circumstances, 
produce  corresponding  effects.  Josephus  remarks  that  the  Sadducces,  a 
kind  of  Jewish  infidels,  whose  tenets  were  the  denial  of  a  moral  govern- 
ment and  a  future  state,  were  distinguished  from  the  other  sects  by  their 
ferocity.  De.  Bell.  Jud.  lib.  2.  He  elscv>'here  remarks,  that  they  wev<» 
eminent  for  their  inhumanity  in  theirjudicial  capacity. 


48 

and  divorce  ;  and^,  well  knowing  that  offences 
against  the  laws  of  chastity  usually  spring  from  an 
ill-regulated  imagination,  he  inculcates  purity  of 
heart.  Among  innumerable  benefits  which  the 
world  has  derived  from  the  christian  religion,  a  su- 
perior refinement  in  the  sexual  sentiments,  a  more 
equal  and  respectful  treatment  of  women,  greater 
dignity  and  permanence  conferred  on  the  institution 
of  marriage,  are  not  the  least  considerable ;  in  con- 
sequence of  which  the  purest  affections,  and  the  most 
sacred  duties,  are  grafted  on  the  stock  of  the  strong- 
est instincts. 

The  aim  of  all  the  leading  champions  of  infidelity 
is  to  rob  mankind  of  these  benefits,  and  throw  them 
back  into  a  state  of  gross  and  brutal  sensuality. 
Mr.  Hume  asserts  adultery  to  be  but  a  slight  offence 
ivhen  knoiviif  tvhen  secret  no  crime  at  all.  In  the 
same  spirit  he  represents  the  private  conduct  of  the 
profligate  Charles,  whose  debaucheries  polluted 
the  age,  as  the  just  subject  of  panegyric.  A  disciple 
in  the  same  school  has  lately  had  the  unblushing 
effrontery  to  stigmatize  marriage  as  the  worst  of  all 
monopolies ;  and,  in  a  narrative  of  his  licentious 
amours,  to  make  a  formal  apology  for  departing 
from  his  principles,  by  submitting  to  its  restraints. 
The  popular  productions  on  the  continent,  which 
issue  from  the  atheistical  school,  are  incessantly  di- 
rected to  the  same  purpose. 


49 

Under  every  possible  aspect  in  which  infidelity 
can  be  viewed,  it  extends  the  dominion  of  sensu- 
ality :  it  repeals  and  abrogates  every  law  by  which 
divine  revelation  has,  under  such  awful  sanctions; 
restrained  the  indulgence  of  the  passions.  The  dis- 
belief of  a  supreme,  omniscient  Being,  which  it  in- 
culcates, releases  its  disciples  from  au  atteution  to 
the  hearty  from  every  care  but  the  preservation  of 
outward  decorum  ;  and  the  exclusion  of  the  devout 
affections,  and  an  unseen  world,  leaves  the  mind 
immersed  in  visible,  sensible  objects. 

There  are  two  sorts  of"  pleasures,  corporeal  and 
mental.  Though  we  are  indebted  to  the  senses  for 
all  our  perceptions  originally,  yet  those  which  are 
at  the  farthest  remove  from  their  immediate  imjjves- 
sions  confer  the  most  elevation  ou  the  character, 
since  in  proportion  as  they  are  multiplied  and  aug- 
mented, the  slavish  subjection  to  the  senses  is  sub- 
dued. Hence  the  true  and  only  antidote  to  deba- 
sing sensuality  is  the  possession  of  a  fund  of  that 
kijul  of  enjoyment  which  is  independent  of  the  cor- 
poreal appetites.  Inferior  in  the  perfection  of 
several  of  his  senses  to  different  parts  of  the  brute 
creation,  the  superiority  of  man  over  them  all  con- 
sists in  his  superior  power  of  multiplying  by  uew 
combinations  his  mental  perceptions,  and  thereby 
of  creating  to  himself  resources  of  happiness  sepa- 
rate from  external  sensation.       In  the    scale    of 


50 

enjoyment,  the  first  remove  from  sense  arc  the 
pleasures  of  reason  and  society ;  the  next  are  the 
pleasures  of  devotion  and  religion.  The  former, 
though  totally  distinct  from  those  of  sense,  are  yet 
less  perfectly  adapted  to  moderate  their  excesseg 
than  the  last,  as  they  are  in  a  great  measure  conver- 
sant with  visible  and  sensible  objects.  The  reli- 
gious affections  and  sentiments  are,  in  fact,  and  wera 
intended  to  be  the  jJroper  antagonist  of  sensuality ; 
the  great  deliverer  from  the  thraldom  of  the  appe- 
tites, by  opening  a  spiritual  world,  and  inspiring 
hopes  and  fears,  and  consolations  and  joys  which 
bear  no  relation  to  the  material  and  sensible  uni- 
verse. The  criminal  indulgence  of  sensual  pas- 
sions admits  but  of  two  modes  of  prevention  ;  the 
establishment  of  such  laws  and  maxims  in  society 
as  shall  render  lewd  profligacy  impracticable  or  in- 
famous, or  the  infusion  of  such  principles  and  hab- 
its as  shall  render  it  distasteful.  Human  legisla- 
tures have  encountered  the  disease  in  the  first ;  the 
truths  and  sanctions  of  revealed  religion  in  the  last 
of  these  methods ;  to  both  of  which  the  advocates 
of  modern  infidelity  are  equally  hostile. 

So  much  has  been  said  by  many  able  writers  to 
evince  the  inconceivable  benefit  of  the  marriage  insti- 
tution, that  to  hear  it  seriously  attacked  by  men  who 
stile  themselves  philosophers,  at  the  close  of  the 
•ithteenth  century,  must  awaken  indignation  and 


surprise.  The  object  of  this  discouric  leads  us  to 
direct  our  attention  particularly  to  the  influence  of 
this  institution  on  the  civilization  of  the  world. 

From  the  records  of  revelation  we  learn  that  mar- 
riage, or  the  permanent  union  of  the  sexes,  was 
ordained  by  God,  and  existed  under  different  modi- 
fications in  the  early  infancy  of  mankind,  without 
which  they  could  never  have  emerged  from  barbar- 
ism. For,  conceive  only  what  eternal  discord, 
jealousy  and  violence  would  ensue,  were  the  objects 
of  the  tenderest  affections  secured  to  their  possessor 
by  no  law  or  tie  of  moral  obligation ;  were  domestic 
enjoyments  disturbed  by  incessant  fear,  and  licenti- 
ousness inflamed  by  hope.  Who  could  find  suffici- 
ent tranquillity  of  mind  to  enable  him  to  plan  or 
execute  any  continued  scheme  of  action,  or  what 
room  for  arts  or  sciences,  or  religion,  or  virtue,  in 
that  state  in  which  the  chief  earthly  happiness  was 
exposed  to  every  lawless  invader;  where  one  was 
racked  with  an  incessant  anxiety  to  keep  what  the 
other  was  equally  eager  to  acquire  ?  It  is  not  probable 
in  itself,  independent  of  the  light  of  scripture,  that  the 
benevolent  Author  of  the  human  race  ever  placed 
them  in  so  wretched  a  condition  at  first :  it  is  cer- 
tain they  could  not  remain  in  it  long  without  being 
exterminated.  Marriage,  by  shutting  out  these 
evils,  and  enabling  every  man  to  rest  secure  in  his 
enjoyments,  is  the  great  civilizer  of  the  world  :  with 


53 

this  security  the  mind  is  at  liberty  to  expand  in 
generous  affections,  has  leisure  to  look  abroad,  and 
engage  in  the  pursuits  of  knowledge,  science  and 
virtue. 

Nor  is  it  in  this  way  only  that  marriage  institu^ 
tions  are  essential  to  the  welfare  of  mankind.  They 
are  sources  of  tenderness,  as  well  as  the  guardi- 
ans cf  peace.  Witliout  the  permanent  union  of  the 
sexes,  there  can  be  no  permanent  families  ;  the  dis- 
solution of  nuptial  ties  involves  the  dissolution  of 
domestic  society.  But  domestic  society  is  the  se- 
minary of  social  affections,  the  cradle  of  sensibility, 
where  the  first  elements  are  acquired  of  that  tender- 
ness and  humanity  which  cement  mankind  together; 
and  which,  were  they  entirely  extinguished,  the 
whole  fabric  of  social  institutions  would  be  dis- 
solved. 

Families  are  so  many  centres  of  attraction,  which 
preserve  mankind  from  being  scattered  and  dissi- 
pated by  the  repulsive  powers  of  selfishness.  The 
order  of  nature  is  evermore  from  particulars  to  gen- 
erals.— As  in  the  operations  of  intellect  we  proceed 
from  the  contemplation  of  individuals  to  the  forma- 
tion of  general  abstractions,  so  in  the  develope- 
ment  of  the  passions  in  like  manner,  we  advance 
from  private  to  public  affections ;  from  the  love  of 
parents,   brothers,  and   sisters,   to  those  more  ex- 


53 

pauded  regards  which  embrace  the  immense  society 
of  human  kind.* 

In  order  to  render  men  benevolent,  they  must 
first  be  made  tender ;  for  benevolent  affections  are 
not  the  offspring  of  reasoning ;  they  result  from  that 
culture  of  the  heart,  from  those  early  impressions 
of  tenderness,  gratitude,  and  sympathy,  which  the 
endearments  of  domestic  life  are  sure  to  supply, 
and  for  the  formation  of  which,  it  is  the  best  possi- 
ble school. 

The  advocates  of  infidelity  invert  this  eternal 
order  of  nature.  Instead  of  inculcating  the  private 
affections,  as  a  discipline  by  which  the  mind  is 
prepared  for  those  of  a  more  public  nature,  they  set 
them  in  direct  opposition  to  each  other,  they  pro- 
pose to  build  general  benevolence  on  the  destruc- 
tion of  individual  tenderness,  and  to  make  us  love 
the  whole  species  more,  by  loving  every  particular 
part  of  it  less.  In  pursuit  of  this  chimerical  pro- 
ject, gratitude,  humility,  conjugal,  parental  and 
filial  affection,  together  with  every  other  social  dis- 
position, are  reprobated — virtue  is  limited  to  a  pas- 
sionate attachment  to  the  general  good.     Is  it  not 

*  Ai-ctior  vero  cog-llgatlo  socie'iatis  propinquorum :  ab  lllu  cniiii  iin- 
mensa  socletate  humani  generis,  in  exiijuum  angustumque  concliiditur, 
nam  cum  sit  hoc  natnra  commune  animantlum  ut  habeantlibiclinem  pro- 
ci-eandl  prima  societas  in  ipso  conjug'io  est,  prqxima  in  libcris,  dcind/. 
i.na  domus,  comniunia  omnia.  Id  autem  est  piinclplum  iiibls,  ct  quiisi 
sfminarium  reipublicse.     CVc  de  Off. 


^ 


54t 

natural  to  ask,  when  all  the  tenderness  of  life  U 
extinguished,  and  all  the  bands  of  society  are  un- 
twisted,  from  whence  this  ardent  affection  for  the 
general  good  is  to  spring  ? 

When  this  savage  philosophy  has  completed  it* 
work,  when  it  has  taught  its  disciple  to  look  with 
perfect  indifference  on  the  offspring  of  his  body  and 
the  wife  of  his  bosom,  to  estrange  himself  from  his 
friends,  insult  his  benefactors,  and  silence  the  plead- 
ings of  gratitude  and  pity ;  will  he  by  thus  divesting 
himself  of  all  that  is  human,  be  better  prepared  for 
the  disinterested  love  of  his  species  ?  Will  he  be- 
come a  philanthropist  only  because  he  has  ceased 
to  be  a  man  ?  Rather,  in  this  total  exemption  from 
all  the  feelings  which  humanize  and  soften,  in  this 
chilling  frost  of  universal  indifference,  may  we  not 
be  certain,  selfishness,  unmingled  and  uncontrouled, 
will  assume  the  empire  of  his  heart ;  and  that  under 
pretence  of  advancing  the  general  good,  an  object  to 
which  the  fancy  may  give  innumerable  shapes,  hs 
will  be  prepared  for  the  violation  of  every  duty,  and 
the  perpetration  of  every  crime  ?  Extended  benevo- 
lence is  the  last  and  most  perfect  fruit  of  the  private 
affections  :  so  that  to  expect  to  reap  the  former  from 
the  extinction  of  the  latter,  is  to  oppose  the  means  to 
the  end  ;  is  as  absurd  as  to  attempt  to  reach  the  sum- 
mit of  the  highest  mountain  without  passing  through 
the  intermediate  spaces,  or  to  hope  to  attain  tlie 
heights   of  science  by  forgetting  the  elements  of 


53 

knowledge.     These  absurdities  have  sprung,  how- 
ever,  in  the  advocates  of  infidelity,  from  an  igno- 
rance of  human  nature,   suificient  to  disgrace  even 
those  who  did  not  style  themselves  philosophers. 
Presuming,  contrary  to  the  experience  of  every  mo- 
ment, that  the  affections  are  awakened  by  reasonings 
and  perceiving  that  the  general  good  is  an  incom- 
parably greater  object  in  itself  than  the  happiness 
of  any  limited  number  of  individuals,  they  inferred 
nothing  more  was  necessary  than  to  exhibit  it  in  its 
just  dimensions,  to  draw  the  affections  towards  it: 
as  though  the  fact  of  the   superior  populousness  of 
China  to  Great  Britain  needed  but  to  be  known  to 
render  us  indifferent  to  our  domestic  concerns,  and 
lead  us  to  direct  all  our  anxiety  to  the  prosperity  of 
that  vast  but  remote  empire. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  reason  to  awaken  new  pas- 
sions or  open  new  sources  of  sensibility ;  but  to  direct 
us  in  the  attainment  of  those  objects  which  nature  has 
already  rendered  pleasing,  or  to  determine  among 
the  interfering  inclinations  and  passions  which  sway 
the  mind,  which  are  the  fittest  to  be  preferred. 

Is  a  regard  to  the  general  good  then,  you  will  re- 
ply,  to  be  excluded  from  the  motives  of  action  ?  No- 
thing is  more  remote  from  my  intention  :  but  as  th6 
nature  of  this  motive  has,  in  my  opinion,  been  much 
misunderstood  by  some  good  men,  and  abused  by 
others  of  a  different  description  to  the  worst  of  pur- 


5Q 

poses,  permit  me  to  declare  in  a  few  words  what  ap^ 
pears  to  me  to  be  tlie  truth  on  this  subject. 

The  welfare  of  the  whole  system  of  being  must  be 
allowed  to  be  in  itself,  the  object,  of  all  others  the  most 
worthy  of  being  pursued ;  so  that,  could  the  mind 
distinctly  embrace  it,  and  discern  at  every  step  ivhat 
action  would  infallibly  promote  it,  we  should  be 
furnished  with  a  sure  criterion  of  right  and  wrong, 
an  unerring  guide,  which  would  supersede  the  use 
and  necessity  of  all  inferior  rules,  laws  and  prin- 
ciples. 

But  this  being  impossible,  since  the  good  of  the 
whole  is  a  motive  so  loose  and  indeterminate,  and 
embraces  such  an  infinity  of  relations,  that  before 
we  could  be  certain  what  action  it  prescribed,  the 
season  of  action  would  be  past ;  to  weak,  short- 
sighted mortals,  providence  has  assigned  a  sphere  of 
agency  less  grand  and  extensive  indeed,  but  better 
suited  to  their  limited  powers,  by  implanting  certain 
affections  which  it  is  their  duty  to  cultivate,  and 
suggesting  particular  rules  to  which  they  are  bound 
to  conform.  By  these  provisions  the  boundaries  of 
virtue  are  easily  ascertained,  at  the  same  time  that 
its  ultimate  object,  the  good  of  the  whole,  is  secured 
for,  since  the  happiness  of  the  entire  system  results 
from  the  happiness  of  the  several  parts,  the  affec- 
tions, which  confine  the  attention  immediatelif  to  the 
latter,   conspire  in  the  end  to  the  promotion  of  the 


57 

former  ;  as  the  labourer,  whose  industry  is  limited 
to  a  corner  of  a  large  building,  performs  his  part  to- 
wards rearing  the  structure  much  more  effectually 
than  if  he  extended  his  care  to  the  whole. 

As  the  interest,  however,  of  any  limited  number 
of  persons  may  not  only  not  contribute,  but  may  pos- 
sibly be  directly  opposed  to  the  general  good,  (the 
interest  of  a  family,  for  example,  to  that  of  a  pro- 
vince, or  of  a  nation  to  that  of  the  world)  providence 
has  so  ordered  it,  that  in  a  well  regulated  mind  there 
springs  up,  as  we  have  already  seen,  besides  par- 
ticular attachments,  an  extended  regard  to  the  spe- 
cies, whose  office  is  twofold  :  not  to  destroy  and  ex- 
tinguish the  more  private  affections,  which  is  mental 
parricide ;  but  first,  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  the 
claims  of  those  who  are  immediately  committed  to 
our  care,  to  do  good  to  all  men  ;  secondly,  to  exer- 
cise a  jurisdiction  and  control  over  the  private  affec- 
tions, so  as  to  prohibit  their  indulgence,  whenever  it 
would  be  attended  with  manifest  detriment  to  the 
whole.  Thus  every  part  of  our  nature  is  brought 
into  action ;  all  the  practical  priucij)les  of  the  human 
heart  find  an  element  to  move  in,  each  iu  its  differ- 
ent fort  and  manner  conspiring,  without  mutual  col- 
lision, to  maintain  the  harmony  of  the  world  and  the 
happiness  of  the  universe.* 

•  It  is  somewhat  singular,  that  many  of  the  fashionable  infidels  have  hit 
upon  a  definition  of  virtue  which  pea-fectly  coincides  with  that  of  certain 
Hictaphvsicftl  divines  iu  America,  first  invented  and  defi.-ndcd  by  that 

8 


58 

Before  I  close  this  discourse,  I  cannot  omit  te 
mention  three  circumstances  attending  the  propaga- 
tion of  infidelity  by  its  present  abettors,  equally 
new  and  alarming. 

most  acute  reasoaer,  Jona-i  has  Edwards.  They  both  place  vu-tue  ex- 
clusively in  a  passion  for  the  general  good ;  or,  as  Mr.  Edwakds  ex- 
presses it,  love  to  beinff  in  ffenerah  so  that  our  love  is  always  to  be  pro- 
poi'tioned  to  the  magnitude  of  its  object  in  the  scale  of  being,  which  is 
liable  to  the  objections  I  have  already  stated,  as  well  as  to  many  others 
which  the  limits  of  this  note  will  not  permit  me  to  enumerate.  Let  it 
suffice  to  remark,  (1.)  that  virtue  on  these  principles,  is  an  utter  impos- 
sibility :  for  the  system  of  being,  comprehending  the  great  Supreme,  is 
i tr finite  ;  and  therefore,  to  maintain  the  proper  proportion,  the  foixe  of 
particular  attachment  must  be  infinitely  less  than  the  passion  for  the 
general  good;  but  the  limits  of  the  human  mind  are  not  capable  of  any 
emotions  so  infinitely  different  in  degree.  (2.)  Since  our  vieivs  of  the 
extent  of  the  imiverse  are  capable  of  perpetual  enlargement,  admitting 
tlie  sum  of  existence  is  ever  the  same,  we  must  return  back  at  eacli  step 
to  diminish  the  strength  of  particular  affections,  or  they  will  become 
disproportionate ;  and  consequently,  on  these  principles,  vicious ;  so 
that  the  balance  must  be  continually  fluctuating,  by  the  weights  bcii^g 
taken  out  of  one  scale  and  put  into  the  other.  (3.)  If  virtue  consist 
exclusively  in  love  to  being  in  general,  or  attachment  to  the  general 
good,  the  particular  affections  are,  to  every  purpose  of  virtue,  uselesi?, 
and  even  pernicious  ;  for  their  immediate,  nay,  their  necessary  tendency 
is  to  attract  to  their  objects  a  proportion  of  attention  which  far  exceeds 
their  comparative  value  in  the  general  scale.  To  allege  that  the  general 
good  is  promoted  by  them,  will  be  of  no  advantage  to  the  defence  of  this 
system,  but  the  contrary,  by  confessing  that  a  greater  sum  of  happiness 
is  attained  by  a  deviation  from,  than  an  adherence  to  its  principles ; 
unless  Its  advocates  mean  by  tlie  love  of  being  in  general,  the  same  as  the 
private  r.ffections,  which  is  to  confound  all  the  distinctions  of  language, 
as  well  as  allthe  operations  of  mind.  Let  it  be  i-emembered  we  have  no 
dispute  respecting  what  is  the  ultimate  end  of  vii-tue,  which  is  allowed 
on  both  sides  to  be  the  greatest  sum  of  happiness  in  the  universe.  Th» 
question  is  merely  wliat  is  virtue  itself?  or,  In  other  ^v'ords,  what  are  the 
means  appointed  for  the  attainment  of  that  end  ? 


59 

I.  It  is  the  first  attempt  which  has  been  ever  wit 
nessed  on  an  extensive  scale  to  establish  the  prin- 
ciples of  atheism;  the  first  eftbrt  which  history  baa 
recorded  to  disannul  and  extinguish  the  beliet  at' 
all  superior  powers  ;  the  consequence  of  which, 
should  it  succeed,  would  be  to  place  mankind  in  a 
situation  never  before  experienced,  not  even  during 
the  ages  of  pagan  darkness.  The  system  of  poly- 
theism was  as  remote  from  modern  infidelity  as  from 
true  religion.  Amidst  that  rubbish  of  superstition, 
the  product  of  fear,  ignorance,  and  vice,  which  had 
been  accumulating  for  ages,  some  faint  embers  of 


There  is  Utile  clmibt,  from  some  parts  of  Mr.  Godwin's  work,  entitled, 
"  Political  JusticSf'  as  well  as  from  tlie  early  liabits  of  reading,  that  he 
was  indebted  to  Mr.  Edwards  for  his  principal  arguments  ag-ainst 
the  private  affections  ;  tliougli,  with  a  daring  consistence,  he  has  pur- 
sued his  principles  to  an  extreme  from  which  that  most  excellent  man 
would  have  revolted  witli  horror.  The  fundamental  error  of  the  whole 
.''ystcm  arose,  as  I  conceive,  from  a  mistaken  pursuit  of  simplicity ; 
fiom  a  wish  to  construct  a  moral  system,  without  leaving  sufficient 
scope  for  the  infinite  variety  of  moral  phceiiomena  and  mental  combina- 
tion ;  in  consequence  of  wliich  its  advocates  were  induced  to  place  vir- 
tue e.rcli't'!v:;hj  ill  some  one  dispoaition  of  mind  :  and,  since  the  passion 
for  the  general  good  is  undeniably  the  ijoi/Ze-sr  and  niost  extensive  of  all 
others,  when  it  was  once  resolved  to  pliice  virtue  in  any  one  thing,  there 
remained  little  room  to  hesitate  which  sliouJd  be  preferred.  It  might 
have  been  worth  wliile  to  reflect,  that  in  tlie  natural  world  there  are  two 
kinds  of  attraction :  one,  Avhicli  holds  tlie  several  [tarts  of  individual 
bodies  in  contact :  another,  which  mahitains  the  union  of  bodies  them- 
selves with  the  general  system  :  and  that,  though  the  union,  in  tlie  former 
case  is  much  more  intimate  tlian  in  the  latter,  each  is  equally  essential 
to  the  order  of  the  v/orld.  Similar  to  tliis  is  tJie  relation  wliicli  the  pub- 
lic and  private  afii-ctions  bear  to  each  other,  and  their  use  in  the  moral 
jsvstem. 


^ 


60 

sacred  truth  remained  unextinguished ;  the  inter- 
position of  unseen  powers  in  the  affairs  of  men  was 
believed  and  revered,  the  sanctity  of  oaths  was 
maintained,  the  idea  of  revelation  and  traditioUf  as 
a  source  of  religious  knowledge,  was  familiar ;  a  v^ 
useful  persuasion  of  the  existence  of  a  future  world 
was  kept  alive,  and  the  greater  gods  were  looked  up 
to  as  the  guardians  of  the  public  welfare,  the  patrons 
of  those  virtues  which  promote  the  prosperity  of 
states,  and  the  avengers  of  injustice,  perfidy  and 
fraud.* 

*  The  testimony  of  PotTBics  to  the  beoeficial  effects  which  resulted 
from  the  S3'stein  of  p  ig-an  superstition,  in  fortifying  the  sentiments  of 
moral  obligation,  and  supporting-  the  sanctity  of  oaths,  is  so  weighty  and 
decisive,  that  it  would  be  an  injustice  to  the  subject  not  to  insert  it ; 
more  especially  as  it  is  impossible  to  attribute  it  to  the  influence  of  cre- 
dulity on  the  author  himself,  who  was  evidently  a  sceptic.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  remark,  that  all  the  benefits  which  might  in  any  way  flow 
from  superstition,  are  secured  to  an  incomparably  greater  degree  by  the 
belief  of  true  religion. 

"  But  among  all  the  useful  institutions  (says  Poltbius)  that  demonstrate 
the  superior  excellence  of  the  Roman  government,  the  most  considerable, 
perhaps,  is  the  opinion  which  people  are  taught  to  hold  concerning  the 
gt)ds :  and  that  which  other  men  I'egard  as  an  object  of  disgrace,  ap- 
pears, in  my  judgment,  to  be  the  very  thing  b)^  which  this  republic  is 
chiefly  sustained.  I  mean  superstition,  which  is  impressed  with  all  its 
terrors,  and  influences  the  private  actions  of  the  citizens  and  the  public 
"administration  of  the  state,  to  a  degree  that  can  scarcely  be  exceeded. 

"  The  ancients,  therefore,  acted  not  absurdly,  nor  without  good  rea- 
son, when  they  inculcated  the  notions  concerning  the  gods,  and  the  be- 
lief of  infernal  punishments  ;  bat  much  rather  are  those  of  the  present  a^e 
to  be  charged  -with  rashness  and  absurdity  in  endeavouring  to  extirpate 
these  opinions  ;  for,  not  to  mention  other  effects  that  flow  from  such  an 
institution,  if  among  the  Greeks,  for  example,  a  single  talent  only  be 
intrusted  to  those  who  have  the  management  of  any  of  the  public  money. 


61 

Of  whatever  benefit  superstition  might  formerly  Ue 
productive,  by  the  scattered  particles  of  truth  which 
it  contained,  these  advantages  can  no.w  only  be 
reaped  from  the  soil  of  true  religion ;  n.or  is  there 
any  other  alternative  left  than  the  belief  of  Christi- 
anity, or  absolute  atheism.  In  the  revolutions  of 
the  human  mind,  exploded  opinions  are  often  re- 
vived ;  but  an  exploded  superstition  never  recovers 

though  they  give  ten  written  sureties,  with  as  many  seals,  and  twice  aa 
many  witnesses,  they  are  unable  to  discharge  the  trust  reposed  in  them 
with  integrity.  But  the  Romans,  on  the  other  hand,  who  in  the  course 
of  their  magistracies  and  in  embassies  disburse  the  greatest  sums,  are 
prevailed  on  by  the  single  obligation  of  an  oath,  to  perform  their  duty 
Yith  inviolable  honesty.  And,  as  in  other  states,  a  man  is  rarely  to  be 
found  whose  hands  are  pure  from  public  robbery,  so  among  the  Romans 
it  is  no  less  rare  to  discover  one  that  is  tainted  with  this  crime." — Hamp- 
ton's Polybius,  vol.  3.  b.  6. 

Though  the  system  of  paganism  is  justly  condemned  by  reason  and 
scripture,  yet  it  assumed  as  ti-ue  several  principles  of  the  first  import- 
ance to  the  preservation  of  public  manners  ;  such  as  a  persuasion  of  invisi- 
ble power,  of  the  folly  of  incurring  the  divine  vengeance  for  the  attain- 
ment of  any  present  advantage,  and  the  divine  approbation  of  virtue :  so 
that,  strictly  speaking,  it  was  the  mixture  of  truth  in  it  which  gave  it  all 
its  utility,  which  is  well  stated  by  the  great  and  judicious  Hooker  in 
treating  on  this  subject.  "  Seeing,  therefore,  it  doth  thus  appear  (saj* 
that  venerable  author)  that  the  safety  of  all  states  depended  upon  reli- 
gion ;  that  religion,  unfeignedly  loved,  perfecteth  men's  abilities  unto  all 
kinds  of  virtuous  sei'vices  in  the  commonwealth;  that  men's  desire  is, 
in  general,  to  hold  no  religion  but  the  true  ;  and  that  whatever  good 
effects  do  grow  out  of  their  religion,  who  embr.ace,  instead  of  the  true, 
a  false,  the  roots  thereof  are  certain  sparks  of  the  light  of  truth  intci-- 
laingled  with  the  darkness  of  error :  because  no  religion  can  wholly  and 
only  consist  of  untruths,  we  have  reason  to  think  that  all  true  virtues 
are  to  honour  true  religion  as  their  parent,  and  all  well-ordered  commsn* 
weftls  to  love  her  as  their  chiefeit  stay." — Eccles.  Pol.  b.  5. 


its  credit.  Tlie  pretention  of  divine  revelation  is 
so  august  and  commanding,  tliat  when  its  falsehood 
is  once  discerned  it  is  covered  with  all  the  igno- 
miny of  detected  imposture ;  it  falls  from  such  a 
height  (to  change  the  figure)  that  it  is  inevitably 
crumbled  into  atoms.  Religions^,  whether  false  or 
true,  are  not  creatures  of  arbitrary  institution.  Af- 
ter discrediting  the  principles  of  piety,  should  our 
modern  free-thinkers  find  it  necessary  in  order  to 
restrain  the  excesses  of  ferocity,  to  seek  for  a  sub- 
stitute in  some  popular  superstition,  it  will  prove 
a  vain  and  impracticable  attempt :  they  may  recal 
the  names,  restore  the  altars,  and  revive  the  cere- 
monies ;  but  to  rekindle  the  spirit  of  heathenism 
will  exceed  their  power ;  because  it  is  impossible 
to  enact  ignorance  by  law,  or  to  repeal  by  legisla- 
tive authority  the  dictates  of  reason,  and  the  right 
of  science. 

2.  The  efforts  of  infidels  to  diffuse  the  principles 
of  infidelity  among  tiie  common  people,  is  another 
alarming  symptom  peculiar  to  the  present  time. 
Hume,  Bolingbroke,  and  Gibbon,  addressed  them- 
selves solely  to  the  more  polished  classes  of  the  com- 
munity, and  would  have  thought  their  refined  spec- 
ulations debased  by  an  attempt  to  enlist  disciples 
from  among  the  populace.  Infidelity  has  lately 
grown  condescending  :  bred  in  the  speculations  of 
a  daring  philosophy,  immured  at  first  in  the  clois- 
ters  of  the  learned,  and  afterwards  nursed  in  the 


63 

lap  of  voluptuousness  and  of  courts  ;  having  at 
length  reached  its  full  maturity,  it  boldly  ventures 
to  challenge  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  solicits  the 
acquaintance  of  peasants  and  mechanics,  and  seeks 
to  draw  whole  nations  to  its  standard. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  this  new  state  of 
things.  While  infidelity  was  rare,  it  was  employed 
as  the  instrument  of  literary  vanity;  its  wide  diffu- 
sion having  disqualified  it  for  answering  that  pur- 
pose, it  is  now  adopted  as  the  organ  of  political 
convulsion.  Literary  distinction  is  conferred  by 
the  approbation  of  a  few ;  but  the  total  subversion 
and  overthrow  of  society  demands  the  concurrence 
of  millions. 

S.  The  infidels  of  the  present  day  are  the  first 
sophists  who  have  presumed  to  innovate  in  the  very 
substance  of  momls:  The  disputes  on  moral  ques- 
tions hitherto  agitated  amongst  philosophers  have 
respected  the  grounds  of  duty,  not  the  nature  of 
duty  Itself;  or  they  have  been  merely  metaphysical, 
and  related  to  the  history  of  moral  sentiments  in  the 
mind,  the  sources  and  principles  from  which  they 
were  most  easily  deduced  ;  they  never  turne<l  on  the 
quality  of  those  dispositions  and  actions  which  were 
to  be  denominated  virtuous.  In  the  firm  persuasion 
that  the  love  and  fear  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the  sa- 
cred observation  of  promises  and  oaths,  reverence 
io  magistrates,  obedience  to  parents,  gratitude  to 


64* 

benefactors,  conjugal  fidelity,  and  parental  tender- 
ness, were  primary  virtues,  and  the  chief  support  of 
every  commonwealth,  they  were  unanimous.  The 
curse  denounced  upon  such  as  remove  ancient  land- 
marks, upon  those  who  call  good  evil  and  evil  good, 
put  light  for  darkness  and  darkness  for  light,  who 
employ  their  faculties  to  subvert  the  eternal  distinc- 
tions of  right  and  wrong,  and  thus  to  poison  the 
streams  of  virtue  at  their  source,  falls  with  accumu- 
lated weight  on  the  advocates  of  modern  infidelity, 
and  on  them  alone. 

Permit  me  to  close  this  discourse  with  a  few  se- 
rious reflections. — There  is  much,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, in  the  apostacy  of  multitudes,  and  the  rapid 
progress  of  infidelity,  to  awaken  our  fears  for  the 
virtue  of  the  rising  generation  ;  but  notliing  to  shake 
our  faith  ;  nothing  which  scripture  itself  does  not 
give  us  room  to  expect.  The  features  which  com- 
pose the  character  of  apostates,  their  profaneness, 
presumption,  lewdness,  impatience  of  subordination, 
restless  appetite  for  change,  vain  pretensions  to  free- 
dom and  to  emancipate  the  world,  while  themselves 
are  the  slaves  of  lust,  the  weapons  with  which  they 
attack  Christianity,  and  the  snares  they  spread  for 
tlKi  unwary,  are  depicted  in  the  clearest  colours  by 
the  pencil  of  prophecy.  Knowing  this  first  (says 
Peter)  that  there  shall  come  in  the  last  days  scoffers, 
walking  after  their  own  lusts. ..2  Pet.  iii.  3.  In  the 
same  epistle  he  more  fully  describes  the  persons  he 


(55 

alludes  to  5  as  chieflii  them  which  walk  after  the 
flesh,  in  the  lustofuncleannessj  and  despise  goverri' 
ment  ;  presumptuous  are  they,  self-willed^  they  are 
not  afraid  to  speak  evil  of  dignities  ;  sporting  them- 
selves in  their  oicn  deceivings,  having  eyes  full  of 
adultery,  and  that  cannot  cease  from  sin;  beguiling 
unstable  souls :  for  when  they  speak  great  swelling 
words  of  vanity,  they  allure  through  ike  lusts  of  the 
flesh,  through  much  wantonness,  those  that  were 
clean  escaped  from  them  who  live  in  error  ;  while 
they  promise  them  liberty,  they  themselves  are  the 
servants  of  corruption — 2  Pet.  ii.  Of  the  same 
characters  Jiule  admonishes  us  to  remember  that 
they  were  foretold  as  mockers,  who  should  be  in  the 
last  time,  who  should  walk  after  their  oxen  ungodly 
lusts.  These  be  they  (he  adds)  who  separate  them- 
selves, (by  apostacy)  sensual  not  having  the  Spirit, 
Infidelity  is  an  evil  of  short  duration.  ^'  It  has  (as 
a  judicious  writer  observes)  no  individual  subsist- 
ence given  it  in  the  system  of  prophecy .  It  is  not  a 
BEAST  ;  but  a  mere  putrid  excrescence  of  the  papal 
beast :  an  excrescence  ichich,  though  it  may  diffuse 
death  through  every  vein  of  the  body  on  which  it 
grew,  yet  shall  die  along  with  2^."*  Its  enormities 
will  hasten  its  overthrow^.  It  is  impossible  that  a 
system  which,  by  villifyins;  every  virtue,  and  em- 
bracing the  patronage  of  almost  every  vice  and  crime, 
wages  war  with  all  the  order  and  civilization  of  tha 

*  See  an  excellent  work,  lately  published  by  the  Rev.  .4.  fw/Zc/-,  entitled. 
*•  The  Gospel  its  own  W  itness." 

9 


world  ;  wliichj  equal  to  the  establishment  of  nothing, 
is  armed  only  with  the  energies  of  destruction,  can 
long  retain  an  ascendency.  It  is  in  no  shape  formed 
for  perpetuity.  Sudden  in  its  rise,  and  impetuous 
in  its  progress,  it  resembles  a  mountain -torrent, 
which  is  loud,  filthy,  and  desolating ;  but,  being 
fed  by  no  perennial  spring,  is  soon  drained  off.  and 
disappears.  By  permitting  to  a  certain  extent  the 
prevalence  of  infidelity,  providence  is  preparing  new 
triumphs  for  religion.  In  asserting  its  authority, 
the  preachers  of  the  gospel  have  hitherto  found  it 
necessary  to  weigh  the  prospects  of  immortality 
against  the  interests  of  time  ;  to  strip  the  world  of 
its  charms,  to  insist  on  the  deceitfolness  of  pleasure, 
the  unsatisfying  nature  of  riches,  the  emptiness  of 
grandeur,  and  the  nothingness  of  a  mere  worldly 
life.  Topics  of  this  nature  will  always  have  their 
use  ;  but  it  is  not  by  such  representations  alone 
that  the  importance  of  religion  is  evinced.  The 
prevalence  of  impiety  has  armed  us  with  new  wea- 
pons in  its  defence. 

Religion  being  primarily  intended  to  make  men 
wise  unto  salvation,  the  support  it  ministers  to  social 
order,  the  stability  in  confers  on  government  and 
laws,  is  a  subordijiate  species  of  advantage  which 
we  should  have  continued  to  enjoy  without  reflect- 
ing on  its  cause,  but  for  the  developement  of  deis- 
tical  principles,  and  the  experiment  which  has  been 
made  of  their  effects  in  a  neighbouring  country.    It 


67 

bad  been  the  constant  boast  of  infidels,  that  their 
system,  more  liberal  and  generous  than  Christianity, 
needed  but  to  be  tried  to  produce  an  immense  ac- 
cession to  human  happiness;  and  christian  nations, 
careless  and  supine,  retaining  little  of  religion  but 
the  profession,  and  disgusted  with  its  restraints, 
lent  a  favourable  ear  to  these  pretensions.  God 
permitted  the  trial  to  be  made.  In  one  country, 
and  that  the  centre  of  Christendom,  revelation  un- 
derwent a  total  eclipse,*  while  atheism,  perform- 
ing on  a  darkened  theatre  its  strange  and  fearful 
tragedy,  confounded  the  first  elements  of  society, 
blended  every  age,  rank  and  sect,  in  indiscriminate 
proscription  and  massacre,  and  convnlsed  all  Eu- 
rope to  its  centre  ;  that  the  imperishable  memorial 
of  these  events  might  teach  the  last  generations  of 
mankind  to  consider  religion  as  the  pillar  of  society, 
the  safeguard  of  nations,  the  parent  of  social  order, 
which  alone  has  power  to  curb  the  fury  of  the  pas- 
sions, and  secure  to  every  one  his  rights;  to  the 
laborious  the  reward  of  their  industry,  to  the  rich 
the  enjoyment  of  their  wealth,  to  nobles  the  preser- 
vation of  their  honours,  and  to  princes  the  stability 
of  their  thrones. 


*  It  is  worthy  of  attention  that  Mcrcier,  a  wariD  advocate  of"  the  FreTich 
revolution,  and  a  professed  deist,  in  liis  recent  work,  entitled  "  New 
I'aiis,"  acknowledges  and  laments  tlic  extinction  of  religion  in  Fr;ince. 
"  JVe  have,  (says  he)  in  proscribing  superstition,  destroyed  all  religious  sen- 
t intent ;  but  this  is  not  tlie  ivay  to  regenerate  the -world"  See  Appendix 
to  the  30th  vol.  Monthly  Ucview. 


We  miglit  ask  the  patrons  of  infidelity  what  fury 
impels  them  to  attempt  the  subversion  of  Christiani- 
ty ?  Is  it  that  they  have  discovered  a  better  system? 
To  what  virtues  are  their  principles  favourable  ? 
Or  is  there  one  which  christians  have  not  carried 
to  a  higher  perfection  than  any  of  which  their  party 
can  boast?  Have  they  discovered  a  more  excellent 
rule  of  life,  or  a  better  hope  in  death  than  that 
which  the  scriptures  suggest  ?  Above  all,  what  are 
the  pretentions  on  which  they  rest  their  claims  to  be 
the  guides  of  mankind  ;  or  which  emboldened  them 
to  expect  we  should  trample  on  the  experience  of 
ages,  and  abandon  a  religion  which  has  been  attest- 
ed by  a  train  of  miracles  and  prophecies,  in  which 
millions  of  our  forefathers  have  found  a  refuge  in 
every  trouble,  and  consolation  in  the  hour  of  death  ; 
a  religion  which  has  been  adorned  with  the  high- 
est sanctity  of  character  and  splendour  of  talents, 
which  enrols  amongst  its  disciples  the  names  of 
Bacon,  Newton,  and  Locke,  the  glory  of  their  spe- 
cies, and  to  which  these  illustrious  men  were  proud 
to  dedicate  the  last  and  best  fruits  of  their  immortal 
genius? 

If  the  question  at  issue  is  to  be  decided  by  argu- 
ment, nothing  can  be  added  to  the  triumpl?.  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  if  by  an  appeal  to  authority,  what  have  our 
adveisaries  to  oj/pose  to  these  great  names?  Where 
are  the  infidels  of  such  pure,  uncontaminated  mo- 
-rals;  unshaken  probity,  and  extended  benevolence, 


«9 

that  we  should  be  iu  danger  of  being  seduced  into 
impiety  by  their  example?  Into  what  obscure  reces- 
ses of  misery,  into  what  dungeons  have  their  philan- 
thropists penetrated,  to  lighten  the  fetters  and  re- 
lieve the  sorrows  of  the  helpless  captive?  What 
barbarous  tribes  have  their  apostles  visited?  What 
distant  climes  have  they  explored,  enco^ipassed 
"with  cold,  nakedness  and  want,  to  diffuse  princi- 
ples of  virtue,  and  the  blessings  of  civilization  ?  Or 
will  they  rather  choose  to  wave  their  pretensions 
to  this  extraordinary,  and  in  tlieir  eyes,  eccentric 
species  of  benevolence,  (for  infidels,  we  know,  are 
sworn  enemies  to  enthusiasm  of  every  sort)  and  rest 
theii'  character  on  their  political  exploits ;  on  their 
efforts  to  reanimate  the  virtue  of  a  sinking  state,  to 
restrain  licentiousness,  to  calm  the  tumult  of  popu- 
lar fury ;  and  by  inculcating  the  spirit  of  justice, 
moderation,  and  pity  for  fallen  greatness,  to  miti- 
gate the  inevitable  horrors  of  revolution?  Our 
adversaries  will  at  least  have  the  discretion,  if  not 
the  modesty,  to  recede  from  this  test. 

More  than  all,  their  infatuated  eagerness,  their 
parricidal  zeal  to  extinguish  a  sense  of  Deity, 
must  excite  astonishment  and  horror.  Is  the  idea 
of  an  almighty  and  perfect  Ruler  unfriendly  to  any 
passion  which  is  consistent  with  innocence,  or  an 
obstruction  to  any  design  which  it  is  not  shameful 
to  avow  ?  Eternal  God,  on  what  are  thine  enemies 
intent!     What  are  those  enterprises  of  guilt  and 


70 

hovror.  that,  for  the  safety  of  their  performers,  re- 
quire to  be  enveloped  in  a  darkness  which  the  eye 
of  heaven  must  not  pierce!  Miserable  men  !  Proud 
of  being  the  offspring  of  chance;  in  love  with  uni- 
versal disorder;  whose  happiness  is  involved  in  the 
belief  of  the\r  being  no  witness  to  their  designs, 

and  who    are  at  ease  only  because   they   suppose 

« 

themselves  inhabitants  of  a  forsaken  and  fatherless 
world ! 

Having  been  led  by  the  nature  of  the  subject  to 
consider  chiefly  the  manner  in  which  sceptical  im- 
piety affects  the  welfare  of  states,  it  is  the  more  re- 
quisite to  warn  you  against  that  most  fatal  mistake 
of  regarding  religion  as  an  engine  of  policy  ;  and  to 
recal  to  your  recollection  that  the  concern  we  have 
in  it  is  much  more  as  individuals  than  as  collective 
bodies,  and  far  less  temporal  than  eternal.  The 
happiness  which  it  confers  in  the  present  life  are 
blessings  which  it  scatters  by  the  way  in  its  march 
to  immortality.  That  future  condition  of  being  which 
it  ascertains,  and  for  which  its  promises  and  truths 
are  meant  to  prepare  us,  is  the  ultimate  end  of  hu- 
man societies,  the  iinal  scope  and  object  of  present 
existence  ;  in  comparison  of  which  all  the  revolutions 
of  nations,  and  all  the  vicissitudes  of  time,  are  light 
and  transitory.  Godliness  has,  it  is  true,  the  jJvom- 
iseofthe  life  that  iioic  is  ;  but  chiefly  of  that  which 
is  to  come.  Other  acquisitions  may  be  requisite  to 
make  men  great:  but  be  assured  the  religion  of  Je- 


sus  is  alone  sufficient  to  make  them  good  and  happy. 
Powerful  sources  of  consolation  in  sorrow,  unsha- 
ken fortitude  amidst  the  changes  and  perturbations 
of  the  world,  humility  remote  from  meanness,  and 
dignity  unstrained  by  pride,  contentment  in  every 
station,  passions  pure  and  calm,  with  habitual  se- 
renity, the  full  enjoyment  of  life,  undisturbed  by  the 
dread  of  dissolution  or  the  fear  of  an  hereafter,  are 
its  invaluable  gifts.  To  these  enjoyments,  however, 
you  will  necessarily  continue  strangers,  unless  you 
resign  yourselves  wholly  to  its  power;  for  the  con- 
solations of  religion  arc  reserved  to  reward,  to 
sweeten,  and  to  stimulate  obedience.  Many,  with- 
out renouncing  the  profession  of  Christianity,  with- 
out formally  rejecting  its  distinguishing  doctrines, 
live  in  such  an  habitual  violation  of  its  laws,  and 
contradiction  to  its  spirit,  that  conscious  they  have 
more  to  fear  tlian  to  hope  from  its  truth,  they  arc 
never  able  to  contemplate  it  without  terror.  It  haunts 
their  imagination,  instead  of  tranquillizing  their 
hearts,  and  hangs  with  depressing  weight  on  all 
their  enjoyments  and  pursuits.  Their  religion,  in- 
stead of  comforting  them  under  their  trouble,  is  it- 
self tijeir  greatest  trouble,  from  wh.ich  they  seek  re- 
fuge in  the  dissipation  and  vanity  of  the  world,  until 
the  throbs  and  tumults  of  conscience  force  them  back 
upon  religion.  Thus  suspended  betwixt  opposite 
powers,  the  sport  of  contradictory  influences,  they 
are  disqualified  for  the  happiness  of  both  worlds  ; 
and  neither  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin,  nor  the  peace 


of  piety.  Is  it  surprising  to  find  a  mind  Ihus  bewil- 
dered in  uncertainty,  and  dissatisfied  with  itself, 
court  deception,  and  embrace  with  eagerness  every 
pretext  to  mutilate  the  claims  and  enervate  the  au- 
thority of  Christianity  ;  forgetting  that  it  is  of  the 
very  essence  o/lbe  religious  principle  to  preside  and 
control,  and  inat  it  is  impossible  to  serve  God  and 
mammon  F  It/is  this  class  of  professors  who  are 
chiefly  in  ^afnger  of  being  entangled  in  the  snares 
of  infidel  ityi 

The  cham/pions  of  infidelity  have  much  more  rea- 
son to  be  ashamed  than  to  boast  of  such  converts. 
For  what  c^n  be  a  stronger  presumption  of  the 
falsehood  of  a  system,  than  that  it  is  the  opiate  of  a 
restless  conscience;  that  it  prevails  with  minds  of  a 
certain  description,  not  because  they  find  it  true, 
but  because  they  feel  it  necessary;  and  that  in 
adopting  it  they  consult  less  with  their  reason  than 
with  their  vices  and  their  fears?  It  requires  but  lit- 
tle sagacity  to  foresee  that  speculations  which  ori- 
ginate in  guilt  must  end  in  ruin.  Infidels  are  not 
themselves  satisfied  with  the  truth  of  their  system ; 
for  had  they  any  settled  assurance  of  its  principles, 
in  consequence  of  calm  dispassionate  investigation^ 
they  would  never  disturb  the  quiet  of  the  world  by 
their  attempts  to  proselyte ;  but  would  lament  their 
own  infelicity,  in  not  being  able  to  perceive  sufiici- 
ent  evidence  for  the  truth  of  religion,  which  furnishes 
such  incentives  to  virtue,  and  inspires  such  exalted 


hopes.  Having  nothing  to  substitute  in  the  place 
of  religion,  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that,  in  opposi- 
tion  to  the  collective  voice  of  every  country,  age 
and  time,  proclaiming  its  necessity,  solicitude  for 
the  welfare  of  mankind  impels  them  to  destroy  it. 

To  very  different  motives  must  their  conduct  be 
imputed  More  like  conspirators  than  philoso- 
phers, in  spite  of  the  darkness  with  which  they  en- 
deavour to  surround  themselves,  some  rays  of 
unwelcome  conviction  will  penetrate,  some  secret 
apprehensions  that  all  is  not  right  will  make  them- 
selves felt,  which  they  find  nothing  so  effectual  to 
quell  as  »  attempt  to  enlist  fresh  disciples,  who, 
in  exchan^:e  for  new  principles,  impart  confidence, 
and  diminish  fear.  For  the  same  reason  it  is  sel- 
dom they  attnck  Christianity  by  argument :  their  fa- 
vourite weapons  are  ridicule,  obscenity  and  blas- 
phemy ;  as  the  most  miserable  outcasts  of  society 
are,  of  all  men,  found  most  to  delight  in  vulgar 
merriment  and  senseless  riot, 

Jesus  Christ  seems  to  have  his  fan  in  his  handy 
and  to  be  thoroughly  purging  his  floor  ;  and  nomi- 
nal christians  will  probably  be  scattered  like  chaff. 
But  has  real  Christianity  any  thing  to  fear?  Have 
not  the  degenerate  manners  and  corrupt  lives  of 
multitudes  in  the  visible  church  been,  ou  the  con- 
trary, the  principal  occasion  of  scandal  and  offence? 
Infidelity,  without  intending  it,  is  gradually  remov- 

10 


74 

ing  this  reproach :  possessing  the  property  of  at- 
tracting to  itself  the  raorbid  humours  which  pervade 
the  church,  until  the  christian  profession  on  the  one 
hand  is  reduced  to  a  sound  and  healthy  state,  and 
scepticism  on  the  other  exhibits  nothing  but  a  mass 
of  putridity  and  disease. 

In  a  vieAv  of  the  final  issue  of  the  contest,   we 
should  find  little  cause  to  lament  the  astonishing 
prevalence  of  infidelity,  but  for  a  solicitude  for  the 
rising  generation,  to  whom  its  principles  are  recom- 
mended by  two  motives,  with  young  minds  the  most 
persuasive  ;  the  love  of  independence,  and  the  love 
of  pleasure.     With  respect  to  the  first,  ^e  would 
earnestly  entreat  the  young  to  remember  that  by 
the  unanimous  consent  of  all  ages,  modesty,  docility, 
and  reverence  to  superior   years,   and  to  parents 
above  all,  have  been  considered  as  their  appropri- 
ate virtues f    a   guard    assigned  by  the  immutable 
laws  of  God   and  nature  on  the  inexperience  of 
youth :  and,  with  respect  to  the  second,  that  Chris- 
tianity prohibits  no  pleasures  that  are  innocent, 
lays  no  restraints  that  are  capricious  ;  but  that  the 
sobriety  and  purity  which  it  enjoins,  by  strengthen- 
ing the  intellectual  powers,  and  preserving  the  fac- 
ulties of  mind  and  body  in  undiminished  vigour,  lay 
the  surest  foundation  of  present  peace  and  future 
eminence.     At  such  a  season  as  this  it  becomes  an 
urgent  duty  on  parents,  guardians,  and  tutors,  to 
watch,   not  only  over  the  morals,  but  the  princi- 


75 

pies  of  those  committed  to  their  care ;  to  make  it 
appear  that  a  concern  for  their  eternal  welfare  is 
their  chief  concern  ;  and  to  embue  them  early  with 
that  knowledge  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity, 
and  that  profound  reverence  for  the  scriptures 
that,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  (which  with  sub- 
mission they  may  then  expect)  may  Jceep  them  from 
this  hour  of  temptation,  that  has  come  upon  all  the 
world,  to  try  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth. 

To  an  attentive  observer  of  the  signs  of  the  times, 
it  will  appear  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  phse- 
nomena  of  this  eventful  crisis,  that,  amidst  the  rav- 
ages  of  atheism  and  infidelity,  real  religion  is  evi- 
dently on  the  increase.     The  kingdom  of  God,  we 
know,  Cometh  not  with  observation  ;   but  still  there 
are  not  wanting  manifest  tokens  of  its  approach. 
The   personal   appearance  of  the  Son  of  God  was 
announced  by  the  shaking  of  nations  :    his  spiritual 
kingdom,  in  all  probability,  will  be  established  in 
the  inidst  of  similar   convulsions    and   disorders. 
The  blasphemous  impiety  of  the  enemies  of  God,  as 
well  as  the  zealous  efforts  of  his  sincere  worship- 
pers, will  doubtless  be  overruled  to  accomplish  the* 
purposes  of  his  unerring  providence  :  while,  in  in- 
ilicting  the  chastisements  of  offended  Deity  on  cor- 
rupt communities  and  nations,  infidelity   marks  its 
progress  by  devastation  and  ruin,  by  the  prostration  of 
thrones  and  concussion  of  kingdoms  ;   thus   appal- 
nng  the  inhabitants  of  the  world,  and  compelling 


76 

them  to  take  refuge  in  the  church  of  God,  the  trua 
sanctuary  ;  the  stream  of  divine  knowledge,  unob- 
served, is  flowing  in  new  channels,  winding  its 
course  among  humble  vallies,  refresHing  thirsty  de* 
serts,  and  enriching  with  far  other  and  higher  bless- 
ings than  those  of  commerce,  the  most  distant  climes 
and  nations,  until  agreeably  to  the  prediction  of 
propliecy,  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  fill  and 
cover  the  whole  earth. 

Within  the  limits  of  this  discourse  it  will  be  im- 
practicable to  exliibit  the  evidences  of  Christianity ; 
nor  is  it  my  design  :  but  there  is  one  consideration, 
resulting  immediately  from  my  text,  which  is  enti- 
tled to  great  weight  with  all  who  believe  in  the  one 
living  and  true  God  as  the  sole  object  of  worship. 
The  Ephesians,  in  common  with  other  gentiles,  are 
described  in  the  text  as  being,  previous  to  their  con- 
version, without  God  in  the  world  ;  that  is,  without 
any  just  and  solid  acquaintance  with  his  character, 
destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  his  will,  the  institutes 
of  his  worship,  and  the  hopes  of  his  favour  :  to  the 
truth  of  which  representation  whoever  possesses  the 
slis;htest  acquaintance  with  pagan  antiquity  must  as- 
sent. Nor  is  it  a  fact  less  ineontestible,  that,  while 
human  philosophy  was  never  able  to  abolish  idolatry 
in  a  single  village,  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel 
overthrew  it  in  a  great  part  (and  that  the  most  en- 
lighlened)  of  the  world.  If  the  unity  and  perfec- 
tions of  God,   together  with  his  moral  goverumentj 


77 

and  exclusive  right  to  the  worship  of  mankind,  are 
truths,  they  cannot  reasouahly  be  denied  to  be  truths 
of  the  first  importance,  and  infinitely  to  outweigh  the 
greatest  discoveries  in  science,  because  they  turn 
the  hopes,  fears,  and  interests  of  man  into  a  totally 
different  channel  from  that  in  which  they  must  other- 
wise flow.  Wherever  these  principles  are  first  ad- 
mitted, there  a  new  dominion  is  erected,  and  a  new 
system  of  laws  established. 

But  since  all  events  are  under  divine  direction, 
it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  great  parent, 
after  suffering  his  creatures  to  continue  for  ages  ig- 
norant of  his  true  character,  should  at  length,  in  the 
course  of  his  providence,  fix  upon  falsehood,  and 
that  alone,  as  the  effectual  method  of  making  him- 
self known  ;  and  that  what  the  virtuous  exercise  of 
reason  in  the  best  and  wisest  men  was  never  per- 
mitted to  accomplish,  he  should  confer  on  fraud 
and  delusion  the  honour  of  effecting?  It  ill  com- 
ports with  the  majesty  of  truth,  or  the  character  of 
God,  to  believe  he  has  built  the  noblest  superstruc- 
ture on  the  weakest  foundation  ;  or  reduced  man- 
kind to  the  miserable  alternative  either  of  remain- 
ing  destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  himself,  or  of  deriv- 
ing it  from  the  polluted  source  of  impious  imposture. 
We  therefore  feel  ourselves  justified  on  this  occa- 
sion in  adopting  the  triumphant  boast  of  the  great 
apostle :  Where  is  the  wise,  where  is  the  scribe, 
where  is  the  disfuter  of  this  world  P  Hath  not  God 


78 

made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world  ?  For  after 
that,  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom 
knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of 
preaching  to  save  them  that  believe. 


NOTE  TO  PAGE  21.  If  ^, 

The  fury  of  the  most  sanguinary  parties  -was  especially  pointed  against  the 
ehrintian  priesthood,  &c. — The  author  finds  he  has  given  great  offence  to 
some  friends  whom  he  highly  esteems,  by  applying  the  term  christian 
priesthood  to  the  popish  clergy.  He  begs  leave  to  make  a  remark  or  two 
by  w.iy  of  apology. 

1.  It  is  admitted  by  all  candid  protestants  that  salvation  is  attainable 
in  tlie  Roman  Catholic  church :  but  he  should  be  glad  to  be  informed 
what  part  of  the  christian  covenant  entitles  us  to  expect  the  salvation  of 
those  (where  the  gospel  is  promulgated)  who  are  not  even  a  branch  of 
the  visible  church  of  Christ.  The  papistical  tenets  are  either /zmdaw^ra- 
tally  erroneous,  on  which  supposition  it  is  certain  no  papist  can  be  saved  ; 
or  their  errors  must  be  consistent  with  christian  faith,  and  consequently 
cannot  be  a  valid  reason  for  excluding  those  who  maintain  them  from 
being  a  part  (a  most  corrupt  part,  if  you  please ;  but  still  a  part)  of  the 
christian  church. 

2.  The  popish  clergy  were  persecuted  under  the  character  of  christi- 
ans, not  under  the  notion  of  heretics  or  scismatlcs.  They  who  were  the 
subjects  ol"  persccxition  were  certainly  the  best  judges  of  its  aim  and 
direction  :  .and  when  the  arclibishop  of  Paris  and  others  endeavoured  to 
screen  themselves  from  its  effects  by  a  recantation,  what  did  they  re- 
cant ?  Was  it  popery  ?  No  :  but  the  profession  of  Christianity.  These 
apostates,  doubtless,  meant  to  remove  the  ground  of  ofTence,  which,  in 
their  opinion,  was  the  christian  profession.  If  the  soundest  ecclesiastical 
historians  have  not  refused  the  honours  of  martyrdom  to  such  as  suffered 
in  the  cause  of  truth  amongst  the  gnostks,  it  ill  becomes  the  liberality 


79 

•f  the  present  age  to  contemplate,  with  sullen  indifFerence,  or  malicious 
joy,  the  sufferings  of  conscientious  catholics. 

3.  At  the  period  to  which  the  author  refers,  christian  worship  of  et«»y 
kind  was  prohibited ;  while,  in  solemn  mockery  of  religion,  adoration 
was  paid  to  a  strumpet  under  the  title  of  the  goddess  of  reason.  Is  it  i 
necessary  to  prove  that  men  who  were  thus  abandoned,  must  be  hostile 
to  true  religion  under  every  form  ?  Or,  if  there  be  any  gradations  in 
their  abhorrence,  to  tliat  most  which  is  the  most  pure  and  perfect  ? 
Are  atheism  and  obscenity  more  congenial  to  the  protestant  than  to  the 
popish  profession  ?  'I'o  have  incurred  the  hatred  of  the  ruling  party  of 
France  at  tlie  season  alluded  to,  is  an  honour  which  the  author  would  be 
sorry  to  resign,  as  the  exclusive  boast  of  the  church  of  Rome.  To  have 
been  the  object  of  the  partiality  of  such  bloody  and  inhum.in  mon- 
sters, would  have  been  a  stain  ii[)on  protestants  which  the  virtue  of  ages 
could  not  obliterate. 


REFLECTIONS  ON  WAR. 


A 

SERMON, 

PREACHED    AT 

THE  BAPTIST  MEETING, 

CAMBRIDGE,  ENGLAND, 

ON  TUESDAY,  JUNE  1,  1802. 
BEING  THE  DAY  OF  THANKSGIVING 

FOR 

A  GENERAL  PEACE. 


BY  ROBERT  HALL,  A.  M. 


TROM   THE   LATEST    LONDON   EDITION. 


11 


PREFACE, 


The  writep  is  not  aware  that  the  sentiments  contained 
in  tbis  Discourse  require  apology,  though  he  is  convinced 
he  needs  the  candour  of  the  puhlic  with  respect  to  the  im- 
perfect manner  in  which  they  are  exliibited.  If  it  be 
deemed  an  impropriety  to  introduce  political  reflections 
in  a  discourse  from  the  pulpit,  he  wishes  it  to  he  remem- 
bered that  these  are  of  a  general  na(ure,  and  such  as, 
rising  out  of  the  subject  and  the  occasion,  he  cannot  sup- 
pose it  improper  for  a  christian  minister  to  impress.  With 
party  politics  he  is  determined  to  have  as  little  to  do  as 
possible,  and,  in  the  exercise  of  his  professional  duties, 
notliing  at  all. — Conscious  that  what  is  here  advanced  was 
meant  neither  to  flatter  nor  offend  any  party,  he  is  not 
very  solicitous  about  those  misconstructions  or  misrepre- 
sentations to  which  the  purest  intentions  are  exposed.  It 
will  probably  be  objected,  that  he  has  dwelt  too  much  on 
Ihe  horrors  of  war  for  a  Thanksgiving  Sermon  ;  in  answer 
to  which  he  begs  it  may  be  remembered,  that  as  tlie  plea- 
sure of  rest  is  relative  to  fatigue,  and  that  of  ease  to  pain, 
so  the  blessing  of  peace,  considered  merebj  as  peace,  is  ex- 
actly proportioned  to  the  calamity  of  war.  As  this,  when- 
ever it  is  justiflable,  arises  out  of  a.  necessity y  not  a  desire 
of  acquisition,  its  natural  and  proper  effl'ctis  merely  tore- 
place  a  nation  in  the  state  it  was  in  before  that  necessity  was 
incurred,  or,  in  other  words,  to  recover  what  was  lost,  and 
secure  what  was  endangered.  The  writer  intended  to  add 
something  more  on  the  moral  eftects  of  war,  (a  subject 


PREFACE. 

which  he  should  be  glad  to  see  undertaken  by  some  supe- 
rior  hand)  but  found  it  would  not  be  compatible  with  the 
limits  he  determined  to  assign  himself.  The  Sermon  having 
been  preached  for  the  benefit  of  a  Benevolent  Society  insti- 
tuted at  Cambridge,  will  sufficiently  account  for  the  obser- 
vations on  charity  to  the  poor,  introduced  towards  the  close. 
The  good  which  has  already  arisen  from  the  exertions 
of  that  Society  is  more  than  equal  to  its  most  sanguine 
expectations  J  and  should  this  publication  contribute  in 
the  smallest  degree  to  the  formation  of  similar  ones  in 
other  parts,  the  Author  will  think  himself  abundantly 
compensated  for  the  little  trouble  it  has  cost  him. 
Cambridge,  June  19,  1802. 


SERMON. 


PSALM  46,  VERSES  8,  9. 

Come,  heliold  the  works  of  the  Lord,  ivliat  desolations  he  hath 
made  in  the  earth.  He  malxelh  wars  to  cease  unto  the  end 
of  the  earth ;  he  hreakelh  the  how,  and  eutteth  the  spear 
in  sunder ;  he  harneth  the  chariot  in  thejire. 

1  O  tlie  merciful  interposition  of  Providence  we 
owe  it  that  our  native  land  has  been  exempted  for 
nearly  sixty  years  from  being  the  seat  of  war  ;  our 
insular  situation  having  preserved  us,  under  God, 
from  foreign  invasion  ;  the  admirable  balance  of  our 
constitution  from  internal  discord.  We  have  heard 
indeed,  of  the  ravages  of  armies,  and  the  depopula- 
tion of  countries,  but  they  have  merely  supplied  a 
topic  of  discourse,  and  have  occasioned  no  serious 
alarm.  The  military  system,  as  far  as  it  has  ap- 
peared in  England,  has  been  seen  only  on  the  side 
of  its  gaiety  and  pomp,  a  pleasing  show,  without 
imparting  any  idea  of  its  horrors  ;  and  the  rumour  of 
battles  and  slaughter,  conveyed  from  afar,  has  rather 


86 

amused  our  leisure,  than  disturbed  our  repose. 
While  we  cannot  be  too  thankful  for  our  security, 
it  has  placed  us  under  a  disadvantage  in  one  re- 
spect ;  which  is,  that  we  have  learned  to  contem- 
plate war  with  too  much  indifference,  and  to  feel 
for  the  unhappy  countries  immediately  involved  in 
it  too  little  compassion.  Had  we  ever  experienced 
its  calamities,  we  should  celebrate  the  restoration  of 
peace  on  this  occasion  with  warmer  emotions  than 
there  is  room  to  apprehend  are  at  present  felt.  To 
awaken  those  sentiments  of  gratitude  which  we  are 
this  day  assembled  to  express,  it  will  be  proper  brief- 
ly to  recal  to  your  attention  some  of  the  dreadful  ef- 
fects of  hostility.  Real  war,  my  brethren,  is  a  very 
different  thing  from  that  painted  image  of  it,  which 
you  see  on  a  parade,  or  at  a  review  :  it  is  the  most 
awful  scourge  that  Providence  employs  for  the  chas- 
tisement of  man.  It  is  the  garment  of  vengeance 
with  which  the  Deity  arrays  himself,  when  he  comes 
forth  to  punish  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  It  is 
the  day  of  the  Lord,  cruel  both  with  icrath  and  fierce 
anger.  It  is  thus  described  by  the  sublimest  of 
prophets  :  Howl  ye,  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at 
hand  ;  it  shall  come  as  a  destruction  from  the  Al- 
mighty :  therefore  shall  all  hands  be  faint,  and  every 
man's  heart  shall  melt ;  pangs  and  sorroivs  shall 
take  hold  on  them  ;  they  shall  be  in  pain  as  a  tvo- 
man  that  travaileth ;  they  shall  be  amazed  one  at 
another  ;  their  faces  shall  be  as  flames.  Behold  the 
day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  cruel  both  icith  wrath  and 


87 

fierce  anger,  to  lay  the  land  desolate  ;  and  he  shall 
destroy  the  sinners  out  of  it.  For  the  stars  of  heaven 
and  the  constellations  thereof,  shall  not  give  their 
light ;  the  sun  shall  be  darkened  in  his. going  forth, 
and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light. 

War  maybe  considered  in  two  views,  as  it  affects 
the  happiness,  and  as  it  affects  the  virtue  of  man- 
kind ;  as  a  source  of  misery,  and  as  a  source  of 
crimes. 

1.  Though  ice  must  all  die,  as  the  woman  of  Te- 
koa  said,  and  are  as  water  spilt  upon  the  ground, 
which  cannot  be  gathered  up  ;  yet  it  is  impossible 
for  a  humane  mind  to  contemplate  the  rapid  extinc- 
tion of  innumerable  lives  without  concern.  To 
perish  in  a  moment,  to  be  hurried  instantaneously, 
without  preparation  and  without  warning,  into  the 
presence  of  the  Supreme  Judge,  has  something  in  it 
inexpressibly  awful  and  affecting.  Since  the  com- 
mencement  of  those  hostilities  which  are  now  so 
happily  closed,  it  may  be  reasonably  conjectured 
that  not  less  than  half  a  million  of  our  fellow-crea- 
tures have  fallen  a  sacrifice.  Half  a  million  of  be- 
ings, sharers  of  the  same  nature,  warmed  with  the 
same  hopes,  and  as  fondly  attached  to  life  as  our- 
selves, have  been  prematurely  swept  into  the  grave  ; 
each  of  whose  deaths  has  pierced  the  heart  of  a  wife, 
a  parent,  a  brother,  or  a  sister.  How  many  of  these 
scenes  of  complicated  distress  have  occurred  since 


88 

the  commencement  of  hostilities,  is  known  only  to 
Omniscience  :  that  they  are  innumerable  cannot  ad- 
mit of  a  doubt.  In  some  parts  of  Europe,  perhaps, 
there  is  scarcely  a  family  exempt ! 

Though  the  whole  race  of  man  is  doomed  to  dis- 
solution,   and   we    are   all    hastening  to  our  long 
home ;  yet  at   each   successive  moment,    life    and 
death  seem  to  divide  betwixt  them  the  dominion  of 
mankind,   and  life  to  have  the  larger  share.     It  is 
otherwise  in   war:    death    reigns  there  without  a 
rival,  and  without  control.  *   War  is  the  work,  the 
element,  or  rather  the  sport  and  triumph  of  death, 
who  glories  not  only  in  the  extent  of  his  conquest, 
but  in  the  richness  of  his  spoil.     In  the  other  me- 
thods of  attack,  in  the  other  forms  which  death  as- 
sumes, the   feeble   and  the  aged,  who  at  the  best 
can  live  but  a  short  time,  are  usually  the  victims ; 
here  it  is  the  vigorous  and  the  strong.  It  is  remarked 
by  the  most  ancient  of  poets,  that  in  peace  children 
bury  their  parents,  in  war  parents  bury  their  chil- 
dren :  nor  is  the  difference  small.    Children  lament 
their  parents,  sincerely,  indeed,  but  with  that  mode- 
rate and  tranquil  sorrow,   which  it  is  natural  for 
those  to  feel  who  are  conscious  of  retaining  many 
tender  ties,   many    animating  prospects.     Parents 
mourn  for  their  children  with  the  bitterness  of  des^ 
pair ;  the  aged  parent,  the  widowed  mother,  loses, 
when  she  is  deprived  of  her  cliildren,  every  thingbut 
the  capacity  of  suffering;  her  heart,  withered  and 


desolate,  admits  no  other  oNject,  cherishes  no  other 
hope.  It  is  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children,  and 
refusing  to  he  comforted,  because  they  are  not. 

But,  to  confine  our  attention  to  the  number  of  the 
slain,  would  give  us  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the 
ravages  of  the  sword.  The  lot  of  those  who  perish 
instantaneously  may  be  considered,  apart  from  reli- 
gious prospects,  as  comparatively  happy,  since  they 
are  exempt  from  those  lingering  diseases  and  slow 
torments  to  which  others  are  liable.  We  cannot  see 
an  individual  expire,  though  a  stranger  or  an  ene- 
my, without  being  sensibly  moved,  and  prompted 
by  compassion  to  lend  him  every  assistance  in  our 
power.  Every  trace  of  resentment  vanishes  in  a 
moment:  every  other  emotion  gives  way  to  pity  and 
terror.  In  these  last  extremities  we  remember  no- 
thing but  the  respect  and  tenderness  due  to  our  com- 
mon nature.  What  a  scene  then  must  a  field  of 
battle  present,  where  thousands  are  left  without  as- 
sistance,  and  without  pity,  with  their  wounds  ex- 
posed to  the  piercing  air,  while  the  blood,  freezing 
as  it  flows,  binds  them  to  the  earth,  amidst  the 
trampling  of  horses,  and  the  insults  of  an  enraged 
foe !  If  they  arc  spared  by  the  humanity  of  the 
enemy,  and  carried  from  the  field,  it  is  but  a  pro- 
longation of  torment.  Conveyed  in  uneasy  vchi- 
elee,  often  to  a  remote  distance,  through  roads 
almost  impassible,  they  are  lodged  in  ill-prepared 
receptacles  for  the  wounded  and  the  sick,  where  the 

1^ 


90 

variety  of  distress  baffles  all  the  efforts  of  humaH= 
ity  and  skill,  and  renders  it  impossible  to  give  to 
each  the  attention  he  demands.  Far  from  their  na- 
tive  home,  no  tender  assiduities  of  friendship,  no 
well-known  voice,  no  wife,  or  mother,  or  sister, 
is  near  to  sooth  their  sorrows,  relieve  their  thirst, 
or  close  their  eyes  in  death  !  Unhappy  man  !  and 
must  you  be  swept  into  the  grave  unnoticed  and 
unnumbered,  and  no  friendly  tear  be  shed  for  your 
sufferings,  or  mingled  with  your  dust  ? 

"We  must  remember,  however,  that  as  a  very  small 
proportion  of  a  military  life  is  spent  in  actual  com- 
bat, so  it  is  a  very  small  part  of  its  miseries  which 
must  be  ascribed  to  this  source.  More  are  consum- 
ed by  the  rust  of  inactivity  than  by  the  edge  of  the 
sword  ;  confined  to  a  scanty  or  unwholesome  diet, 
exposed  in  sickly  climates,  harrassed  with  tire- 
some marches  and  perpetual  alarms ;  their  life  is  a 
continual  scene  of  hardships  and  dangers.  They 
grow  familiar  with  hunger,  cold  and  watchfulness. 
Crowded  into  hospitals  and  prisons,  contagion 
spreads  amongst  their  ranks,  till  the  ravages  of  dis- 
ease exceed  those  of  the  enemy. 

We  have  hitherto  only  adverted  to  the  sufferings 
of  those  who  arc  engaged  in  the  profession  of  arms 
without  taking  into  our  account  the  situation  of  the 
countries  whicli  are  the  scene  of  hostilities.  How 
dreadful  to  hold  every  thing  at  the  mercy  of  an  en- 


cmy,  and  to  receive  life  itsself  as  a  boon  dependent 
on  the  sword.     How  boundless  the  fears  which  such 
a  situation  must  inspire,  where  the  issues  of  life  and 
death  are  determined  by  no  known  laws,  principles, 
or  customs,  and  no  conjecture  can  be  formed  of  our 
destiny,  except  as  far  as  it  is  dimly  decyphered  in 
characters  of  blood,  in  the  dictates  of  revenge,  and 
the  caprices  of  power.     Conceive  but  for  a  moment 
the  consternation  which  the  approach  of  an  invading 
army  would  impress  on  the  peaceful  villages  in  this 
neighbourhood.     When  you  have  placed  yourselves 
for  an  instant  in  that   situation,   you  will  karn  to 
sympathize  with    those  unhappy  countries    which 
have  sustained  the  ravages  of  arms.     But  how  is  it 
possible  to  give  you  an  idea  of  these  horrors  ?   Here 
you  behold  rich  harvests,  the  bounty  of  heaven,  and 
the  reward  of  industry,  consumed  in  a  moment,  or 
trampled  under  foot,  while  famine  and  pestilence 
follow  the  steps  of  desolation.     There  the  cottages 
of  peasants  given  up  to  the  flames,  mothers  expiring 
through  fear,  not  for  themselves,  but  their  infants ; 
the  inhabitants  flying  with  their  helpless  babes  in 
all  directions,   miserable  fugitives   on  their  native 
soil !  In  another  part  you  witness  opulent  cities  tak- 
en  by  storm ;  the  streets,    where  no   sounds  were 
heard  but  those  of  peaceful  industry,  filled  on  a  sud- 
den with  slaughter  and  blood,  resounding  with  the 
cries  of  the  pursuing  and  the  pursued ;   tlie  palaces 
of  nobles  demolished,  the  houses  of  the  rich  pillaged, 
the  chastity  of  virgins  and  of  matrons  violated,  and 


9S 

every  age,  sex,   and  rank,  mingled  in  promiscuous 
massacre  and  ruin. 

If  we  consider  the  maxims  of  war  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  ancient  world,  and  which  still  prevail 
in  many  harharous  nations,  we  perceive  that  those 
who  survive  the  fury  of  battle  and  the  insolence  of 
victory,  were  only  reserved  for  more  durable  calam- 
ities ;  swept  into  hopeless  captivity,  exposed  in 
markets,  or  plunged  in  mines,  with  the  melancholy 
distinction  bestowed  on  princes  and  warriors,  after 
appearing  in  the  triumphal  procession  of  the  con- 
queror, of  being  conducted  to  instant  death.  The 
contemplation  of  such  scenes  as  these,  forces  on  us 
this  awful  reflection  :  that  neither  the  fury  of  wild 
beasts,  the  concussions  of  the  earth,  nor  the  violence 
of  tempests,  are  to  be  compared  to  tlie  ravages  of  arms ; 
and  that  nature  in  her  utmost  extent,  or,  more  pro- 
perly,  divine  justice  in  its  utmost  severity,  has  sup- 
plied no  enemy  to  man  so  terrible  as  man. 

Still  however,  it  ^vould  be  liappy  for  mankind  if 
the  effects  of  national  hostility  terminated  here ; 
but  the  fact  is,  that  they  who  are  farthest  removed 
from  its  immediate  desolations,  share  largely  in  the 
calamity.  They  are  drained  of  the  most  precious 
part  of  their  population,  their  youth,  to  repair  the 
waste  made  by  the  sword.  They  are  drained  of 
their  wealth,  by  the  prodigious  expense  incurred  in 
the  equipment  of  fleets,  and  the  subsistence  of  ar- 


93 

mies  in  remote  parts.  The  aeeumulation  of  debt 
and  taxes  diininishes  the  public  strength,  and  de- 
presses private  industry.  An  augmentation  in  the 
price  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  inconvenient  to  all 
classes,  fall  with  peculiar  weight  on  the  labouring 
poor,  who  must  carry  their  industry  to  market  ev- 
ery day,  and  tlierefore  cannot  wait  for  that  advance 
of  price  which  gradually  attaches  to  every  other 
article.  Of  all  people  the  poor  are  on  this  account 
the  greatest  sufferers  by  war,  and  have  the  most 
reason  to  rejoice  in  the  restoration  of  peace.  As  it 
is  the  farthest  from  my  purpose  to  awaken  unpleas- 
ing  reflections,  or  to  taint  the  pure  satisfaction  of 
this  day,  by  the  smallest  infusion  of  political  acri- 
mony, it  will  not  be  expected  I  should  apply  these 
remarks  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  this  coun- 
try, though  it  >vould  be  unpardonable  in  us  to  forget 
(for  to  forget  our  danger  is  to  forget  our  mercies) 
how  nearly  we  have  been  reduced  to  famine,  prin- 
cipally it  is  true,  through  a  failure  in  the  crops, 
but  greatly  aggravated,  no  doubt,  in  its  pressure, 
by  our  being  engaged  in  a  war  of  unexampled  ex- 
penditure and  extent. 

In  commercial  states  (of  which  Europe  princi- 
pally consists)  whatever  interrupts  tlieir  intercourse 
is  a  fatal  blow  to  national  prosperity.  Such  states 
having  a  mutual  dependence  on  each  other,  the  ef- 
fects of  their  hostility  extend  far  beyond  the  parties 
engaged  in  the  contest.     If  there    be    a    country 


94i 

highly  commercial,  which  has  a  decided  superiority 
in  wealth  and  industry,  together  with  a  fleet  wliich 
enables  it  to  protect  its  trade,  the  commerce  of  such 
a  country  may  survive  the  shock,  but  it  is  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  commerce  of  all  other  nations  ;  a  pain- 
ful reflection  to  a  generous  mind.  Even  there  the 
usual  channels  of  trade  being  closed,  it  is  some  time 
before  it  can  force  a  new  passage  for  itself;  previous 
to  which,  an  almost  total  stagnation  takes  place,  by 
"which  multitudes  are  imjioverished,  and  thousands 
of  the  industrious  poor,  being  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment, are  plunged  into  wretchedness  and  beggary. 
"Who  can  calculate  the  number  of  industrious  fami- 
lies in  different  parts  of  the  world,  to  say  nothing 
of  our  own  country,  wl»o  have  been  reduced  to  pov- 
erty,  from  this  cause,  since  the  peace  of  Europe 
was  interrupted? 

The  plague  of  a  widely  extended  war,  possesses, 
in  fact,  a  sort  of  omnipresence,  by  which  it  makes 
itself  every  M'hevc  felt;  for  while  it  gives  up  myri- 
ads to  slaughter  in  one  part  of  the  globe,  it  is  busily 
employed  in  scattering  over  countries,  exempt  from 
its  immediate  desolations,  the  seeds  of  famine,  pes- 
tilence and  death. 

If  statesmen,  if  christian  statesmen  at  least,  had 
a  proper  feeling  on  this  subject,  and  would  open 
their  hearts  to  the  reflections  which  such  scenes 
must  inspire,  instead  of  rushing  eagerly  to  arm« 


95 

from  the  thirst  of  conquest,  or  the  thirst  of  gain^ 
would  they  not  hesitate  long,  would  they  not  try 
every  expedient,  every  lenient  art  consistent  with 
national  honour,  before  they  ventured  on  this  despe- 
rate remedy,  or  rather,  before  they  plunged  into 
this  gulph  of  horror  ? 

It  is  time  to  proceed  to  another  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, which  is,  the  influence  of  national  warfare  on 
the  morals  of  mankind  :  a  topic  on  which  I  must  be 
very  brief,  but  which  it  would  he  wrong  to  omit,  a» 
it  supplies  an  additional  reason  to  every  good  man 
for  the  love  of  peace. 

The  contests  of  nations  are  both  the  offspring  and 
the  parent  of  injustice.  The  word  of  God  ascribes 
the  existence  of  war  to  the  disorderly  passions  of 
men.  Whence  comes  wars  and  Jightings  among 
you  P  saith  the  apostle  James,  come  they  not  from 
your  lusts  that  war  in  your  members  P  It  is  certain 
two  nations  cannot  engage  in  hostilities,  but  one  party 
must  be  guilty  of  injustice  ;  and  if  the  magnitude  of 
crimes  is  to  be  estimated  by  a  regard  to  their  conse- 
quences, it  is  difficult  to  conceive  an  action  of  equal 
guilt  with  the  wanton  violation  of  peace.  Though 
something  must  generally  be  allowed  for  the  com- 
plexness  and  intricacy  of  national  claims,  and  the 
consequent  liability  to  deception,  yet  where  tli*^  guilt 
of  an  unjust  war  is  clear  and  manifest,  it  sinks  every 
other  crime  into  insignificance.     If  the  existence  of 


96 

"wav  always  implies  injustice,  in  one  at  least  of  the 
parties  concerned,  it  is  also  the  fruitful  parent  of 
crimes.  It  reverses,  with  respect  to  its  objects,  all 
the  rules  of  morality.  It  is  nothing  less  than  a  tem- 
porary repeal  of  the  principles  of  virtue.  It  is  a 
system  out  of  w^hich  almost  all  the  virtues  are  exclu- 
ded, and  in  which  nearly  all  the  vices  are  incorpora- 
ted. Whatever  renders  human  nature  amiable  or 
respectable,  whatever  engages  love  or  confidence,  is 
sacrificed  at  its  shrine.  In  instructing  us  to  consider 
a  portion  of  our  fellow  creatures  as  the  proper  ob- 
jects of  enmity,  it  removes,  as  far  as  they  are  con- 
cerned, the  basis  of  all  society,  of  all  civilization  and 
virtue;  for  the  basis  of  these  is  the  good-will  due  to 
every  individual  of  the  species,  as  being  a  part  of 
ourselves.  From  this  principle  all  the  rules  of 
social  virtue  emanate.  Justice  and  humanity  in 
their  utmost  extent  are  nothing  more  than  the  prac- 
tical  application  of  this  great  law.  The  sword,  and 
that  alone,  cuts  asunder  the  bond  of  consanguinity, 
which  unites  man  to  man.  As  it  immediately  aims 
at  the  extinction  of  life,  it  is  next  to  impossible,  up- 
on the  principle  that  every  thing  may  be  lawfully 
done  to  him  whom  we  have  a  right  to  kill,  to  set 
limits  to  military  licence  ;  for  when  men  pass  from 
the  dominion  of  reason  to  that  of  force,  whatever 
restraints  are  attempted  to  be  laid  on  the  passions 
will  be  feeble  and  fluctuating.  Though  we  must 
applaud,  therefore,  the  attempts  of  the  humane  Gro- 
tius,  to  blend  maxims  of  humanity  with  military  op- 


97 

erations,  it  is  to  be  feared  they  will  never  coalesce, 
since  the  former  imply  the  subsistence  of  those  ties 
which  the  latter  suppose  to  be  dissolved.  Hence 
the  morality  of  peaceful  times  is  directly  opposite 
to  the  maxims  of  war.  The  fundamental  rule  of 
the  first  is  to  do  good  ;  of  the  latter,  to  inflict  inju- 
ries. The  former  commands  us  to  succour  the  op- 
pressed ;  the  latter  to  overwhelm  the  defenceless. 
The  former  teaches  men  to  love  their  enemies  ;  the 
latter  to  make  themselves  terrible  even  to  strangers. 
The  rules  of  morality  will  not  suffer  us  to  promote 
the  dearest  interest  by  falsehood  ;  the  maxims  of  war 
applaud  it  when  employed  in  the  destruction  of  others. 
That  a  familiarity  with  such  maxims  must  tend 
to  harden  the  heart,  as  well  as  to  pervert  the  moral 
sentiments,  is  too  obvious  to  need  illustration.  The 
natural  consequence  of  their  prevalence  is  an  un- 
feeling and  unpriucipled  ambitiou,  with  an  idolatry 
of  talents,  and  a  contempt  of  virtue ;  whence  the  es- 
teem of  mankind  is  turned  from  the  humble,  the 
beneficent,  and  the  good,  to  men  who  are  qualified 
by  a  genius  fertile  in  expedients,  a  courage  that  is 
never  appalled,  and  a  heart  that  never  pities,  to  be- 
come the  destroyers  of  the  earth.  While  the  phi- 
lanthropist is  devisi?ig  means  to  mitigate  tlte  evils 
and  augment  the  happiness  of  the  world,  a  fellow- 
worker  together  with  God,  in  exploring  and  giving 
effect  to  the  benevolent  tendencies  of  nature,  the 
warrior  is  revolving  in  the  gloomy  recesses  of  his 
capacious  mind,  plans  of  future  devastation  and  ruin. 

i3 


98 

Prisons  crowded  with  captives,  cities  emptied  of 
their  inhabitants,  fields  desolate  and  waste,  are 
among  his  proudest  trophies.  Tiie  fabric  of  his 
fame  is  cemented  with  tears  and  blood ;  and  if  his 
name  is  wafted  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  it  is  in  the 
shrill  cry  of  suflering  humanity  ;  in  the  curses  and 
imprecations  of  those  whom  his  sword  has  reduced 
to  despair. 

Let  me  not  be  understood  to  involve  in  this  guill 
every  mjiu  who  engages  in  war,  or  to  assert  that  war 
itself  is  in  all  cases  unlawful.  The  injustice  of  man- 
kind, hitherto  incurable,  renders  it  in  some  instan- 
ces necessary,  and  therefore  lawful ;  but  unques- 
tionably, these  instances  are  much  more  rare  than 
the  practice  of  the  world  and  its  loose  casuistry 
would  lead  us  to  suppose. 

Detesting  war,  considered  as  a  trade  or  profes^ 
sion,  and  conceiving  conquerors  to  be  the  enemies  of 
their  species,  it  appears*  to  me  that  nothing  is  more 
suitable  to  the  office  of  a  Christian  minister,  than  an 
attempt,  however  feeble,  to  take  off  the  colours  from 
false  greatness,  and  to  show  the  deformity  which  its 
delusive  splendour  too  often  conceals.  This  is  per- 
haps one  of  the  best  services  religion  can  do  to  soci- 

*  Non  est  inter  artificia  bellam,  imo  res  est  tarn  horrencla,  ut  earn  nJsj 
summa  necessilas,  aut  veracaritas,  honestam  efficere  qvieat.  Augustino 
judice,  iTiilitare  non  est  delictum,  sed  propter  pracdam  militare  peccatum 
est.     Gro:.  de  Jure  Bell  I.  2-  c.  25. 


ety.  Nor  is  there  any  more  necessary.  For  domin- 
ion affording  a  plain  and  palpable  distinction,  and 
every  man  feeling  the  effects  of  power,  however  in- 
competent he  may  be  to  judge  of  wisdom  and  good- 
ness, the  character  of  a  hero,  there  is  reason  to  fear, 
will  always  he  too  dazzling.  The  sense  of  his  in- 
justice  will  be  too  often  lost  in  the  admiration  of  his 
success. 

In  contemplating  the  influence  of  war  on  public 
morals,  it  would  be  unpardonable  not  to  remark  the 
effects  it  never  fails  to  produce  in  those  parts  of  the 
world  which  are  its  immediate  seat.  The  injury 
which  the  morals  of  a  people  sustain  from  an  invad- 
ing army  is  prodigious.  The  agitation  and  sus- 
pense universally,  prevalent,  are  incompatible  with 
every  thing  which  requires  calm  thought  or  serious 
reflection.  In  such  a  situation  is  it  any  wonder  the 
duties  of  piety  fall  into  neglect,  the  sanctuary  of  God 
is  forsaken,  and  the  gates  of  Zion  mourn  and  are 
desolate  ?  Familiarized  to  the  sight  of  rapine  and. 
slaughter,  the  people  must  acquire  a  hard  and  un- 
feeling character.  The  precarious  tenure  by  which 
every  thing  is  held  during  the  absence  of  laws, 
must  impair  confidence  ;  the  sudden  revolutions  of 
fortune  must  be  iuiliiilely  favourable  to  fraud  and 
injustice.  He  who  reflects  on  these  consequences^ 
will  not  think  it  too  much  to  affirm,  that  the  injury 
the  virtue  of  a  people  sustains  from  invasion,  is 
greater  than  tliat  which   affects  their  property  or 


100 

tlieir  lives.  He  will  perceive  that  by  such  a  ca- 
lamity  the  seeds  of  order,  virtue,  and  piety,  which 
it  is  the  first  care  of  education  to  implant  and  ma- 
ture, are  swept  away  as  by  a  hurricane. 

Though  the  sketch  which  I  have  attempted  to 
give  of  the  miseries  which  ensue  whe^  nation  lifts 
up  arms  against  nation,  is  faint  and  imperfect,  it  is 
yet  suiRcient  to  imprint  on  our  minds  a  salutary 
horror  of  such  scenes,  and  a  gratitude,  warm,  I 
trust,  and  sincere,  to  that  gracious  Providence 
which  has  brought  them  to  a  close. 

To  acknowledge  the  hand  of  God  is  a  duty  in- 
deed at  all  times;  but  there  are  seasons  when  it  is 
made  so  bare,  that  it  is  next  to  impossible,  and 
therefore  signally  criminal,  to  overlook  it.  It  is  al- 
most unnecessary  to  add  that  the  present  is  one  of 
those  seasons.  If  ever  we  are  expected  to  be  stilly 
and  know  that  he  is  God,  it  is  on  the  present  occa- 
sion, after  a  crisis  so  unexampled  in  the  annals  of 
the  world ;  during  which,  scenes  have  been  dis- 
closed, and  events  have  arisen,  so  much  more  as- 
tonishing than  any  that  history  had  recorded  or  ro- 
mance had  feigned,  that  we  are  compelled  to  lose 
sight  of  human  agency,  and  to  behold  the  Deity 
acting  as  it  were  apart  and  alone. 

The  contest  in  which  we  have  been  lately  en- 
gaged, is  distinguibhed  from  all  others  in  modern 


101 

times  by  the  number  of  nations  it  embraced,  and  the 
animosity  with  which  it  was  conducted.  Making 
its  first  appearance  in  the  centre  of  the  civilized 
world,  like  a  fire  kindled  in  the  thickest  part  of  a 
forest,  it  spread  durin*;  ten  years  on  every  side,  it 
burnt  iu  all  directions,  gathering  fresh  fury  in  its 
progress,  till  it  enwrapped  the  whole  of  Europe  in 
its  flames,  an  awful  spectacle  not  only  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  earth,  but  in  the  eyes  of  superior  be- 
ings !  What  place  can  we  point  out  to  which  its 
effects  have  not  extended  ?  Where  is  the  nation, 
the  family,  the  individual,  I  might  almost  say,  who 
has  not  felt  its  influence  ?  It  is  not,  my  brethren,  the 
termination  of  an  ordinary  contest  which  we  are  as- 
sembled this  day  to  commemorate  ;  it  is  an  event 
which  includes  for  the  present  (may  it  long  perpetu- 
ate) the  tranquillity  of  Europe  and  the  pacification  of 
the  world.  We  are  met  to  express  our  devout  gra- 
titude to  God,  for  putting  a  period  to  a  war,  the  most 
eventful  perhaps  that  has  been  witnessed  for  a 
thousand  years,  a  war  which  has  transformed  the 
face  of  Europe,  removed  the  laud -marks  of  nations 
and  limits  of  empire. 

The  spirit  of  animosity  with  which  it  has  been 
conducted  is  another  circumstance  which  has  emi- 
nently distinguished  the  recent  contest.  As  it  would 
be  highly  improper  to  enter  on  this  occasion  (were 
my  abilities  equal  to  tlje  task)  into  a  discussion  (jf 
those  principles  which  have  divided,  and  probably 


103 

v.'\]\  long  divide  the  sentiments  of  men,  it  may  be 
5  iflicJont  to  observe  in  general,  that  what  princi- 
pally contributed  to  make  the  contest  so  peculiarly 
violent,  was  a  discordancy  betwixt  the  opinions  and 
the  institutions  of  society.  A  daring  spirit  of  spec- 
ulation, untempered,  alas!  by  humility  and  devo- 
tion, has  been  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  pre- 
sent times.  While  it  coniined  itself  to  the  expo- 
siire  of  the  corruptions  of  religion  and  the  abuses  of 
power,  it  met  with  some  degree  of  countenance  from 
the  wise  and  good  in  all  countries,  who  were  ready 
to  hope  it  was  the  instrument  destined  by  Provi- 
dence to  meliorate  the  condition  of  mankind.  How 
great  was  their  disappointment  when  they  perceived 
that  pretensions  to  philanthropy  were,  with  many, 
only  a  mask,  assumed  for  the  more  successful  pro- 
pagation of  impiety  and  anarchy  ! 

From  the  prevalence  of  this  spirit,  however,  a 
schism  v»  as  gradually  formed  between  the  adher- 
ents of  those,  who  styling  themselves  philosophers., 
were  intent  on  some  great  change,  which  they  were 
little  careful  to  explain,  and  the  patrons  of  the  an- 
cient Older  of  things.  The  pretensions  of  each  were 
plausible.  The  accumulation  of  abuses  and  the 
iborruptions  of  religion  furnislied  weapons  to  the 
philosophers ;  the  dangerous  tendency  of  the  spec  . 
ulations  of  these  latter,  together  with  their  impiety, 
which  became  every  day  more  manifest,  gave  an 
advantage  not  less  considerable  to  their  opponents, 


103 

which  they  did  not  fail  to  improve.  In  this  situa- 
tion the  breach  grew  wider  and  wider;  nothing 
temperate  or  conciliating  was  admitted.  Every  at- 
tempt at  purifying  religion  without  impairing  its 
authority,  and  at  improving  the  condition  of  society, 
without  shaking  its  foundation,  was  crushed 
and  annihilated  in  the  encounter  of  two  hostile 
forces.  By  this  means  the  way  was  prepared,  first 
for  internal  dissension,  and  then  for  wars  the  most 
bloody  and  extensive. 

The  war  in  which  so  great  a  part  of  the  world 
was  lately  engaged,  has  been  frequently  styled  a 
war  of  principle.  This  was  indeed  its  exact  char- 
acter ;  and  it  was  this  which  rendered  it  so  violent 
and  obstinate.  Disputes  which  are  founded  merely 
on  passion  or  on  interest,  are  comparatively  of  short 
duration.  They  are,  at  least,  not  calculated  to 
spread.  However  they  may  inflame  the  principals, 
they  are  but  little  adapted  to  gain  partizans. 

To  render  them  durable,  there  must  be  an  infu- 
sion of  speculative  opinions.  For  corrupt  as  men 
are,  they  are  yet  so  much  the  creatures  of  reflection, 
and  so  strongly  addicted  to  sentiments  of  right  and 
wrong,  that  their  attachment  to  a  public  cause  can 
rarely  be  secured,  nor  their  animosity  be  kept  alive, 
unless  their  understandings  are  engaged  by  some 
appearances  of  truth  and  rectitude.  Hence  specu- 
lativediflTercnces  in  religion  and  politics  become  ral- 


lyinj5  points  to  the  passions.  Whoever  reflects  on 
the  civil  wars  between  the  Guelphs  and  the  Ghib- 
belincs,  or  the  adherents  of  the  pope  and  the  empe- 
ror, which  distracted  Italy  and  Germany  in  the 
middle  ages  ;  or  those  betwixt  the  houses  of  York 
and  Lancaster,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  will  find 
abundant  confirmation  of  this  remark.  This 
is  well  understood  by  the  leaders  of  parties  in 
all  nations  ;  who,  though  they  frequently  aim 
at  nothing  more  than  the  attainment  of  power, 
yet  always  contrive  to  cement  the  attachment  of 
their  followers,  by  mixing  some  speculative  opinion 
with  their  contests,  well  knowing  that  what  de- 
pends for  support  merely  on  the  irascible  passions 
soon  subsides.  Then  does  party  animosity  reach 
its  lieight,  when  to  an  interference  of  interests  sufiB- 
cient  to  kindle  resentment,  is  superadded  a  persua- 
sion of  rectitude,  a  conviction  of  truth,  an  apprehen- 
sion in  each  party  that  they  are  contending  for  prin- 
ciples of  the  last  importance,  on  the  success  of  which 
the  happiness  of  millions  depends.  Under  these  im- 
pressions men  are  apt  to  indulge  the  most  selfish  and 
vindictive  passions  without  suspicion  or  control. 
The  understanding  indeed,  in  that  state,  instead  of 
controlling  the  passions  often  serves  only  to  give 
steadiness  to  their  impulse,  to  ratify  and  consecrate, 
so  to  speak,  all  their  movements. 

When  we  apply  these  remarks  to  the  late  contest, 
we  can  be  at  no  loss  to  discover  the  source  of  the 


105 

unparalleled   animosity  which  inflamed  it.     Never 
before  were  so   many  opposing  interests,   passions, 
and  principles  committed  to  such  a  decision.     On 
one  side  an  attachment  to  the  ancient  order  of  things, 
on  the  other  a  passionate  desire  of  change ;   a  wish 
in  some  to  perpetuate,   in   others  to   destroy  every 
thing  ;   every  ahuse  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  former, 
every  foundation  attempted  to  be  demolished  by  the 
latter  ;  a  jealousy  of  power  shrinking  from  the  slight- 
est  innovation,   pretensions    to  freedom  pushed  to 
madness  and  anarchy  ;   superstition  in  all  its  dotnge, 
impiety  in  all  its  fury  ;   whatever,  in  short,  could  be 
found  most  discordant  in  tiie  principles,  or  violent 
in  the  passions  of  men,  were  the  fearful  ingredients 
which  the  hand  of  Divine  Justice  selected  to  mingle 
in  this  furnace  of  wrath.     Can  we  any  longer  won- 
der at  the  desolations  it  made  in   the  earth  ?    Great 
as  tiiey  are,  they  are  no  more  than  might  be  expect- 
ed from  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  warfare.     When 
we  take  this  into  our  consideration,  we  are  no  lon- 
ger surprised  to  find  the  variety  of  its  battles  bur- 
dens the  memory,  tiiat  the  imagination  is  perfectly 
fatigued    in  travelling  over  its  scenes  of  slaughter; 
and  that  falling,  like  the  mystic  star  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse, upon  the  streams  and  the  rivers,  it  turned  the 
third  2J art  of  their  ivaters  into  hlood* 

*  The  author  has  inserted  some  reflections  iicrc,  which  were  not  inclii 
dt;d  in  the  discourse  as  delivered  from  tlie  pulpit.  He  wished  to  explain 
himself  some  what  more  fully  on  certain  points,  on  which  his  sentiments 
in  a  former  publication  have  been  much  misunderstood  or  misrepresented, 
But  this  is  a  circumstance  witli  which,  as  it  has  not  troubled  himself,  he 
^«h«9  not  any  favtljer  to  trouble  the  readei- 

14  » 


106 

Whether  the  foundations  of  lasting  tranquillity 
are  laid,  or  a  respite  only  afforded  to  the  nations 
'of  the  earth,  in  the  present  auspicious  event,  is  a 
question,  the  discussion  of  which  would  only  damp 
the  satisfaction  of  this  day.  Whatever  may  be  the 
future  determinations  of  Providence,  let  no  gloomy 
foreboding  depress  our  gratitude  for  its  gracious 
interposition  in  our  favour.  While  we  feel  senti- 
ments of  respectful  acknowledgment  to  the  human 
instruments  employed,  let  us  remember  they  are 
but  instruments,  and  that  it  is  our  duty  to  look 
through  them  to  him  who  is  the  Author  of  every 
good  and  perfect  gift. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  pleasing  part  of  our  sub- 
ject, which  invites  us  to  contemplate  the  reasons  for 
gratitude  and  joy  suggested  by  the  restoration  of 
peace. 

Permit  me  to  express  my  hope,  that  along  with 
peace  the  spirit  of  peace  will  return.  How  can  we 
better  imitate  our  heavenly  Father,  than  when  he 
is  pleased  to  compose  the  animosities  of  nations,  to 
open  our  hearts  to  every  milder  influence.  Let  us 
hope,  more  mutual  forbearance,  a  more  candid  con- 
struction of  each  other's  views  and  sentiments  will 
prevail.  No  end  can  now  be  answered  by  the  re- 
vival of  party  disputes.  The  speculations  which 
gave  occasion  to  them  have  been  yielded  to  the  ar- 
bitration of  the  sword,  and  neither  the  fortune  of 


107 

war  nor  the  present  condition  of  Europe,  is  such  as 
affords  to  any  party  room  for  high  exultation.  Our 
public  and  private  affections  are  no  longer  at  vari- 
ance. That  benevolence  which  embraces  the  world 
is  now  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  tenderness  that 
endears  our  country.  Burying  in  oblivion,  there- 
fore, all  national  antipathies,  together  with  those 
cruel  jealousies  and  suspicions  which  have  too 
much  marred  the  pleasures  of  mutual  intercourse, 
let  our  hearts  correspond  to  the  blessing  we  cele- 
brate, and  keep  pace  as  far  as  possible  with  the 
movements  of  divine  beneficence. 

A  most  important  benefit  has  already  followed 
the  return  of  peace,  a  reduction  of  the  price  of 
bread,  and  though  other  necessaries  of  life  have 
not  fallen  in  proportion,  this  is  a  circumstance 
which  can  hardly  fail  to  follow.  We  trust  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  poor  and  the  labouring  classes 
will  be  much  improved,  and  that  there  will  shortly 
be  no  complaining  in  our  streets.  Every  cottager, 
we  hope,  will  feel  that  there  is  peace,  commerce  re- 
turn to  its  ancient  channels,  the  public  burdens  be 
lightened,  the  national  debt  diminished,  and  har- 
mony and  plenty  again  gladden  the  land. 

In  enumerating  the  motives  to  national  gratitude, 
which  the  retrospect  of  the  past  supplies,  it  would 
be  Unpardonable  not  to  reckon  among  the  most  co- 
gent, the  preservation  of  our  excellent  constitution; 


108 

nor  can  I  doubt  of  the  concurrence  of  all  who  hear 
me,  when  I  add,  it  is  a  pleasing  reflection,  that 
at  a  period  when  the  spirit  of  giddiness  and  revolt 
has  been  so  prevalent,  we  have  preferred  the  bless- 
ings of  order  to  a  phantom  of  liberty,  and  have  not 
been  so  mad  as  to  wade  through  the  horrors  of  a 
revolution  to  make  way  for  a  military  despot.  If 
the  constitution  has  sustained  serious  injury,  either 
during  the  war,  or  at  any  preceding  period,  as  there 
is  great  room  to  apprehend,  we  shall  have  leisure 
(may  we  but  have  virtue!)  to  apply  temperate  and 
effectual  reforms.  In  the  mean  time  let  us  love  it 
sincerely,  cherish  it  tenderly,  and  secure  it  as  far 
as  possible  on  all  sides,  watching  with  impartial 
solicitude  against  every  thing  that  may  impair  its 
spirit,  or  endanger  its  form. 

But,  above  all,  let  us  cherish  the  spirit  of  reli- 
gion. When  we  wish  to  open  our  hearts  on  this 
subject,  and  to  represent  to  you  the  vanity,  the  no- 
thingness of  every  thing  else  in  comparison,  we  feel 
ourselves  checked  by  an  apprehension  you  will 
consider  it  merely  as  professional  language,'  and 
consequently  entitled  to  little  regard.  If,  however, 
you  will  only  turn  your  eyes  to  the  awful  scenes 
before  you,  our  voice  may  be  spared.  They  will 
speak  loud  enough  of  themselves.  On  this  subject 
they  will  furnish  the  most  awful  and  momentous  in. 
struction.  From  them  you  will  learn,  that  the  safety 
of  nations  is  not  to  be  sought  in  arts  or  in  arms; 


109 

til  at  science  may  flourish  amidst  the  decay  of  hu. 
manity ;  tliat  the  utmost  barbarity  may  be  blended 
with  the  utmost  refinement ;  tliat  a  passion  for  spec- 
'ulation,  unrestrained  by  the  fear  of  God  and  a  deep 
sense  of  human  imperfection,  merely  hardens  the 
heart ;  and  that  as  religion,  in  short,  is  the  great 
tamer  of  the  breast,  the  S(!urce  of  tranquillity  and 
order,  so  the  crimes  of  voluptuousness  and  impiety 
inevitably  conduct  a  people,  before  they  are  aware, 
to  the  brink  of  desolation  and  anarchy. 

If  you  had  wished  to  figure  to  yourselves  a  coun- 
try  wiiich  had  reached  tlie  utmost  pinnacle  of  pros- 
perity,  you  would  undoubtedly  have  turned  your 
eyes  to  France,  as  she  appeared  a  few  years  before 
the  revolution  ;  illustrious  in  learning  and  genius; 
the  favourite  abode  of  the  arts,  and  the  mirror  of 
fashion,  whither  the  flower  of  the  nobility  from  all 
countries  resorted,  to  acquire  the  last  polish  of  which 
the  human  character  is  susceptible.  Lulled  in  vo- 
luptuous repose,  and  dreaming  of  a  philosophical 
millennium,  without  dependence  upon  God,  like 
the  generation  before  the  flood,  they  ate,  they  dravk, 
they  married,  they  ivere  given  in  marriage.  In 
that  exuberant  soil  every  thing  seemed  to  flourish, 
but  religion  and  virtue.  The  season  however  was 
at  length  arrived,  when  God  was  resolved  to  punish 
their  impiety,  as  well  as  to  avenge  the  blood  of  his 
servants,  whose  souls  had  for  a  century  been  inces- 
*janily  crying  to  him  from  under   the   altar.     And 


110 

what  method  did  he  employ  for  this  purpose  ?  Wlrcii 
he  to  whom  vengeance  helongs,  when  he  whose  ways 
are  unsearchable,  and  whose  wisdom  is  inexhaust- 
ible, proceeded  to  the  execution  of  this  strange  work,* 
h*e  drew  from  his  treasures  a  weapon  he  had  never 
employed  before.  Rest>lving  to  make  their  punish- 
ment as  signal  as  their  crimes,  he  neither  let  loose 
an  inundation  of  barbarous  nations,  nor  the  desola- 
ting powers  of  the  universe  :  he  neither  overwhelm- 
ed thfm  with  earthquakes,  nor  visited  them  with 
pestilence.  He  summoned  from  among  themselves 
a  ferocity  more*terrible  than  either,  a  ferocity  which 
mingling  in  the  struggle  for  liberty,  and  borrowing 
aid  from  that  very  refinement  to  which  it  seemed  to 
be  opposed,  turned  every  man's  hand  against  his 
neighbour,  and  sparing  no  age,  nor  sex,  nor  rank, 
till  satiated  with  the  ruin  of  greatness,  the  distresses 
of  innocence,  and  the  tears  of  beauty,  it  terminated 
its  career  in  the  most  unrelenting  despotism,  TJwu, 
art  rigliieoiis,  0  Lordf  ivhich  art,  and  ivhich  was 
and  which  shall  be,  because  thou  hast  judged  thus, 
for  they  have  shed  the  blood  of  saiiits  and  pro- 
phets, and  thou  hast  given  them  blood  to  drink, 
for  they  are  worthy. 

If  the  weakness  of  humanity  will  not  permit  us 
to  keep  pace  witli  the  movements  of  divine  justice  ; 
if,  from  the  deep  commiseration  excited  by  the  view 
of  so  much  wo,  our  tongue  falttrs  in  expressing 
those  sublime  sentiments  of  triumph  which  revela- 


Ill 

tion  suggests  on  this  occasion,  we  shall  he  pardou- 
ed  by  the  Being  who  knows  our  frame  ;  while  noth- 
ing can  prevent  us,  at  least,  from  adoring  this  illus- 
trious vindication  of  his  own  religion,  wliose  divin- 
ity we  see  is  not  less  apparent  in  the  hlessings  it 
bestows,  than  in  the  calamities  which  mark  its  de- 
parture. 

Our  only  security  against  similar  calamities  is  a 
steady  adherence  to  this  religion;  not  the  religion  of 
mere  form  and  profession,  but  that  which  has  its  seat 
in  the  heart ;  nor  is  it  mutilated  and  debased  by  the 
refinementsof  a  false  philosophy,  but  as  it  exists  in  all 
its  simplicity  and  extent  in  the  sacred  scriptures  ;  con- 
sisting in  sorrow  for  sin,  in  the  love  of  Grod,  and  in 
faith  in  a  crucified  Redeemer.     If  this  religion  re- 
vives and  flourishes  amongst  us,  we  may  still  sur- 
mount all  our  difficulties,   and  no  weapon  formed 
against  us  will  prosper  ;  if  we  despise  or  neglect  it, 
no  human  power  can  afford  us  protection.     Instead 
of  shewing  our  love  to  our  country,  therefore,  by 
engaging  eagerly  in  the  strife  of  parties,   let  us 
chuse  to  signalize  it  rather  by  beneficence,  by  piety, 
by  an  exemplary  discharge  of  the  duties  of  private 
life,  under  a  persuasion  that  that  man,  in  the  final 
issue  of  things,  will  be  seen  to  have  been  the  best 
patriot,  who  is  the  best  christian.     He  who  diffuses 
the  most  liappiness,  and  mitigates  the  most  distress 
within  his  own  circle,  is  undoubtedly  the  best  friend 
to  his  country  and  the  world,  since  nothing  more  is 


Its 

necessary,  than  for  all  men  to  imitate  his  conduct, 
to  make  tho  greatest  part  of  the  misery  of  the  world 
cease  in  a  moment.  While  the  passion,  then,  of 
some  is  to  shine,  of  some  to  govern,  and  of  others  to 
accumulate,  let  one  great  passion  alone  inflame  our 
breasts,  the  passion  which  reason  ratifies,  which 
conscience  approves,  which  heaven  inspires,  that  of 
being  and  of  doing  good. 

There  is  no  vanity,  I  trust,  in  supposing  that  the 
reflections  which  this   Discourse   has  presented  to 
your  view,  have  awakened  those  sentiments  of  gra 
titude  to  the  Father  of  Mercies  for  his  gracious  in- 
terposition in   the  restoration  of  peace,  which  you 
are  impatient  to  express  by  stronger  evidence  than 
■words.     Should  this   be  the   case,  a  plain  path  is 
before  you.     While  tLe  eminence  of  the  divine  per- 
fections renders  it  impossible  for  us  to  contribute  to 
the  happiness,  or  augment  the  glory  of  the  Creator, 
he  has  left  amongst  us,  for  the  exercise  of  our  virtue, 
the  indigent  and  the  affticted,  whom  he  has  in  an 
especial  manner  committed  to  our  care,  and  appoint 
ed  to  represent  himself.     The  objects  of  the  insti 
tution,  for  which  I  have  this   day  the  honour  to 
plead,  are  those  of  whom  the  very  mention  is  suffi 
cient  to  excite  compassion  in  every  feeling  mind, 
the  sick  and  the  aged  j)oor.-^     To  be  scantily  pro- 

*  It  may  be  proper  to  remind  the  reader,  that  this  Discourse  was 
preached  for  the  benefit  of  a  benevolent  society,  recently  instituted  at 
f!ambri(lg-e,  for  Ihe  relit--f  of  the  sick  and   aged  poor;  and  that  one  prin- 


113 

vided  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  to  endure  cold, 
hunger,  and  nakedness,  is  a  great  calamity  at  all 
seasons ;  it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  ohserve  how 
much  these  evils  are  aggravated  by  the  pressure  of 
disease,  when  exhausted  nature  demands  whatever 
the  most  tender  assiduity  can  supply  to  cheer  its 
languor  and  support  its  sufferings.  It  is  the  pecu- 
liar misfortune  of  the  afflicted  poor,  that  the  very 
circumstance  which  increases  their  wants,  cuts  off, 
by  disqualifying  them  for  labour,  the  means  of  their 
supply.  Bodily  affliction,  therefore,  falls  upon  them 
with  an  accumulated  weight.  Poor  at  best,  when 
seized  with  sickness  they  become  utterly  destitute. 
Incapable  even  of  presenting  themselves  to  the  eye 
of  pity,  nothing  remains  for  them,  but  silently  to 
yield  themselves  up  to  sorrow  and  despair.  The 
second  class  of  objects,  which  it  is  the  design  of  this 
society  to  relieve,  are  the  aged  jwor.  Here  it  is 
quite  unnecessary  for  me  to  attempt  to  paint  to  you 
the  sorrows  of  old  age  ;  a  period  indeed  which,  by 
a  strange  inconsistency,  we  all  wish  to  reach, 
while  we  shrink  with  a  sort  of  horror  from  the  in- 
firmities and  sufferings  inseparable  from  that  mel- 
ancholy season.  What  can  be  a  more  pitiable  ob- 
ject than  decrepitude,  sinking  under  the  accumu- 
lated load  of  years  and  of  penury?     Arrived  al 

cipal  motive  with  the  author  for  coniplyinjj  with  the  request  of  the 
Society  in  publishing  it,  was  a  desire  to  excite  the  attention  of  the 
benevolent  to  the  formation  of  similar  societies  in  other  parts.  A  further 
account  of  the  Institution  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  Sermcn. 

1^ 


114 

that  period  when  the  most  fortunate  confess  they 
have  no  pleasure,  how  forlorn  is  his  situation,  who 
destitute  of  the  means  of  subsistence,  has  survived 
his  last  child,  or  his  last  friend  !  Solitary  and  neg- 
lected, without  comfort  and  without  hope,  depend- 
ing for  every  thing  on  a  kindness  he  has  no  means 
of  conciliating,  he  finds  himself  left  alone  in  a  world 
to  which  he  has  ceased  to  belong,  and  is  only  felt 
in  society  as  a  burden  it  is  impatient  to  shake  off. 
Such  are  the  objects  to  which  this  Institution  soli 
cits  your  regard. 

It  is,  in  my  humble  opinion,  a  most  excellent  part 
of  the  plan  of  the  Society,  in  whose  behalf  I  ad- 
dress you,  that  no  relief  is  administered  without 
first  personally  visiting  the  olvjects  in  their  own 
abode.  By  this  means  the  precise  circumstances 
of  each  case  are  clearly  ascertained,  and  imposture 
is  sure  to  be  detected.  Where  charity  is  adminis- 
tered without  this  precaution,  as  it  is  impossible  to 
discriminate  real  from  pretended  distress,  the  most 
disinterested  benevolence  often  fails  of  its  purpose, 
and  that  is  yielded  to  clamorous  importunity  which 
is  M  ithheld  from  lonely  want.  The  mischief  ex- 
tends much  farther.  From  the  frequency  of  such 
imposition,  the  best  minds  are  in  danger  of  becom- 
ing disgusted  with  the  exercise  of  pecuniary  chari- 
ty, till  from  a  mistaken  persuasion,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  guard  against  deception,  they  treat  the  most 
abandoned  and  the  most  deserving  with  the  same 


11^ 

neglect.  Thus  the  heart  contracts  into  selfishness, 
and  those  delicious  emotions  which  the  benevolent 
author  of  nature  implanted  to  prompt  us  to  relieve 
distress,  become  extinct ;  a  loss  greater  to  ourselves 
than  to  the  objects  to  whom  we  deny  our  compas- 
sion.  To  prevent  a  degradation  of  character  so 
fatal,  allow  mc  to  urge  on  all  whom  Providence 
has  blessed  with  the  means  of  doing  good,  on  those 
especially  who  are  indulged  with  affluence  and 
leisure,  the  importance  of  devoting  some  portion  of 
their  time  in  inspecting,  as  well  as  of  their  proper- 
ty in  relieving,  the  distresses  of  the  poor. 

By  this  means  an  habitual  tenderness  will  be 
cherished,  which  will  heighten  inexpressibly  the 
happiness  of  life,  at  the  same  time  that  it  will 
most  effectually  counteract  that  seliishness  which  a 
continual  addictedness  to  the  pursuits  of  avarice 
and  ambition  never  fails  to  produce.  As  selfish- 
ness is  a  principle  of  continual  operation,  it  needs 
to  be  opposed  by  some  other  principle,  whose  ope- 
ration is  equally  uniform  and  steady  ;  but  the  casual 
impulse  of  compassion,  excited  by  occasional  appli- 
cations  for  relief,  is  by  no  means  e<[ual  to  this  pur- 
pose. Then  only  will  benevolence  become  a  pre- 
vailing habit  of  mind,  when  its  exertion  enters  into 
the  system  of  life,  and  occupies  some  stated  portion 
of  tlie  time  and  attention.  In  addition  to  this,  it  is 
worth  while  to  reflect  how  much  consolation  the 
poor  must  derive  from  finding  they  arc  the  objects 


116 

of  personal  attention  to  their  more  opulent  neigh- 
bours, that  they  are  aeknowled^^ed  as  brethren  of 
the  same  family,  and  that  should  they  be  overtaken 
with  affliction  or  calamity,  they  are  in  no  danger  of 
perishing  unpitied  and  unnoticed.  With  all  the 
pride  that  wealth  is  apt  to  inspire,  how  seldom  are 
the  opulent  truly  aware  of  their  high  destination. 
Placed  by  the  Lord  of  all  on  an  eminence,  and  en- 
trusted with  a  superior  portion  of  his  goods,  to  them 
it  belongs  to  be  dispensers  of  his  bounty,  to  succour 
distress,  to  draw  merit  from  obscurity,  to  behold 
oppression  and  want  vanish  before  them,  and  ac- 
companied wherever  they  move  with  perpetual  ben- 
edictions, to  present  an  image  of  him,  who  at  the 
close  of  time,  in  the  kingdom  of  the  redeemed,  will 
wipe  away  tears  from  all  faces.  It  is  surely  unne- 
cessary to  remark  how  insipid  are  the  pleasures  of 
voluptuousness  and  ambition  compared  to  wiiat  such 
a  life  must  afford,  whether  we  compare  tliem  with 
respect  to  the  present,  the  review  of  the  past,  or  the 
prospect  of  the  future. 

It  is  probable  some  may  object,  that  such  exer- 
tions, however  amiable  in  themselves,  are  rendered 
unnecessary  by  the  system  of  parochial  relief,  es- 
tablished in  this  country.  To  which  it  is  obvious 
to  reply,  that  however  useful  this  institution  may  be, 
there  must  always  be  a  great  deal  of  distress,  which 
it  can  never  relieve.  Like  all  national  institutions, 
U  is  incapable  of  bending  from  the  rigour  of  gene- 


iir 

ral  rules,  so  as  to  adapt  itself  to  the  precise  circiiiU' 
stances  of  each  respective  case.  Besides  that  it 
Would  be  vain  to  expect  much  tenderness  in  the  ex- 
ecution of  a  legal  office,  the  machine  itself,  though 
it  may  be  well  suited  to  the  general  purpose  it  is 
intended  to  answer,  is  too  large  and  unwieldy  to 
touch  those  minute  points  of  difference,  those  dis- 
tinct kinds  and  gradations  of  distress,  to  which  the 
operation  of  personal  benevolence  will  easily  adapt 
itself.  In  addition  to  whicii,  it  will  occur  to  those 
who  reflect,  that,  on  account  of  the  increasing  de- 
mands of  the  poor,  the  parochial  system,  which 
presses  hard  upon  many  ill  able  to  bear  it,  is  alrea* 
dy  strained  to  the  utmost. 

Although  the  society  in  whose  behalf  T  address 
you,  is  but  recently  establiMcd,  it  has  been  ena- 
bled painfully  to  ascertain  the  vast  proportion  of 
its  objects  of  the  female  sex,  a  melancholy  circum- 
stance, deserving  the  serious  attention  of  the  public 
on  more  accounts  than  one.  Of  the  cases  which  have 
occurred  to  their  notice,  since  the  commencement  of 
their  labours,  more  than  three-fourtiis  have  been  of 
that  description.  The  situation  of  females  without 
fortune  in  this  country  is  indeed  deeply  aflfectin"-. 
Excluded  from  all  the  active  employments,  in  which 
they  might  engage  with  the  utmost  propriety,  by 
men,  who  to  the  injury  of  one  sex,  add  the  dis- 
grace of  making  the  other  effeminate  and  ridiculous, 
an  indegent  female,  the  object  probably  of  love  and 


118 

tenderness  in  her  youth,  at  a  more  advanced  age,  a 
withered  Hower !   has  nothing  to  do  but  to  retire  and 
die.     Thus  it  comes  to  pass,  that  the  most  amiable 
part  of  our  species,  by  a  detestable  combination  in 
those  who  ought  to  be  their  protectors,  are  pushed 
oflF  the  stage,   as  though  they  were  no  longer  wor- 
thy  to  live,  when  they  ceased  to  be  the  objects  of 
passion.     How  strongly  on  this  account,  this  soci- 
ety is   entitled   to   your  attention  (as  woi-ds  would 
fail.)  I  leave  to  the  pensive  reflection  of  your  own 
bosoms. 

To  descant  on  the  evils  of  poverty  might  seem  en- 
tirely unnecessary   (for  what  with  most  is  the  great 
business  of  life,  but  to  remove  it  to  the  greatest  pos- 
sible distance  ?)  were  it  not  that,  besides  its  being 
the  most  common  of  all  evils,  there  are  circumstan- 
ces  peculiar  to  itself,  which  expose  it  to  neglect. 
The  seat  of  its  sufferings  are  the  appetites,  not  the 
passions  ;   appetites   which  are  common  to  all,  and 
which,  being  capable  of  no  peculiar  combinations, 
confer  no  distinction.     There  are  kinds  of  distress 
founded  on  the  passions,   which,  if  not  applauded, 
are  at  least  admired  in  their  excess,  as  implying  a 
peculiar  refinement  of  sensibility  in  the  mind  of  the 
sufferer.     Embellished  by  taste,  and  wrought  by  the 
magic  of  genius  into  innumerable  forms,  they  turn 
grief  into  a  luxury,  and  draw  from  the  eyes  of  mil- 
lions delicious  tears.     But  no  muse  ever  ventured  to 
adorn  the  distresses  of  poverty  or  the  sorrows  of  hun- 


119 

«er.  Disgusting  taste  and  delicacy,  and  presenting 
nothing  pleasing  to  the  imagination,  they  are  mere 
misery  in  all  its  nakedness  and  deformity.  Hence 
shame  in  the  sufferer,  contempt  in  the  beholder,  and 
an  obscurity  of  station,  which  frequently  removes 
them  from  the  view,  are  their  inseparable  portion. 
Nor  can  I  reckon  it,  on  this  account,  amongst  the 
improvements  of  the  present  age,  that  by  the  multi- 
plication of  works  of  fiction,  the  attention  is  diverted 
from  scenes  of  real  to  those  of  imaginary  distress  ; 
from  the  distress  which  demands  relief,  to  that  which 
admits  of  embellishment :  in  consequence  of  which 
the  understanding  is  enervated,  the  heart  is  corrupt- 
ed, and  those  feelings  which  were  designed  to  stim- 
ulate to  active  benevolence  are  employed  in  nourish- 
ing a  sickly  sensibility ^i  To  a  most  impure  and 
whimsical  writer,*  whose  very  humanity  is  unnat- 
ural, we  are  considerably  indebted  for  this  innova- 
tion. Though  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  by  diffusing 
a  warmer  colouring  over  the  visions  of  fancy,  sen- 
sibility is  often  a  source  of  exquisite  pleasures  to 
others,  if  not  to  the  possessor,  yet  it  should  never  be 
confounded  with  benevolence  ;  since  it  constitutes 
at  best  rather  the  ornament  of  a  fine,  than  the  virtue 
of  a  good  mind.  A  good  man  may  have  nothing  of 
it,  a  bad  man  may  have  it  in  abundance. 


*  The  author  alludes  to  Sterne,  the  whole  teiulency  of  whose  writing's 
is  to  degrade  human  nature,  by  resolving  all  our  passions  into  a  mereani- 
mal  instinct,  and  that  of  the  grossest  sort.  It  was  perfectly  natural  for 
Mich  a  writer  to  employ  his  powers  in  panegyrising  an  ass. 


Leaving  therefore  these  amusements  of  the  ima- 
gination to  the  vain  and  indolent,  let  us  awake  to 
nature  and  truth,  and  in  a  world  from  which  we 
must  so  shortly  be  summoned,  a  world  abounding 
with  so  many  real  scenes  of  heart-rending  distress 
as  well  as  of  vice  and  impiety,  employ  all  our  pow- 
ers in  relieving  the  one  and  in  correcting  the  other, 
that  when  we  have  arrived  at  the  borders  of  eternity, 
we  may  not  be  tormented  with  the  awful  reflection 
of  having  lived  in  vain. 

If  ever  there  was  a  period  when  poverty  made  a 
more  forcible  appeal  than  usual  to  the  heart,  it  is 
unquestionably  that  which  we  have  lately  witness 
ed,  the  calamities  of  which,  though  greatly  dimin- 
ished by  the  auspicious  ivent  which  we  now  cele- 
brate, are  far  from  being  entirely  removed.  Poverty 
used  in  happier  times  to  be  discerned  in  a  superior 
meanness  of  apparel  and  the  total  absence  of  orna* 
ment.  We  have  seen  its  ravages  reach  the  man, 
proclaiming  themselves  in  the  trembling  step,  in  the 
dejected  countenance,  and  the  faded  form.  We 
have  seen  emaciated  infants,  no  ruddiness  in  their 
cheeks,  no  spriglitliness  in  their  motions,  while 
the  eager  and  imploring  looks  of  their  mothers, 
reduced  below  the  loud  expressions  of  grief,  have 
announced  unutterable  anguish  and  silent  despair. 

From  the  reflections  which  have  been  made  on 
♦he  peculiar  nature  of  poverty,  you  will  easily  ac 


ISl 

count  for  the  prodigious  stress  which  is  laid  on 
the  duty  of  pecuniary  benevolence  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testament.  In  the  formerj  God  delighted 
in  assuming  the  character  of  the  patron  of  the 
poor  and  needy ;  in  the  latter,  the  short  definition 
of  the  religion  which  he  approves,  is  to  visit  the 
fatherless  and  the  widoiv,  and  to  keep  himself  nn- 
spotted  from  the  world.  He  who  knew  what  was 
in  man,  well  knew  that,  since  the  entrance  of  sin, 
selfishness  was  become  the  epidemic  disease  of  hu- 
man nature ;  a  malady  which  almost  every  thing 
tends  to  inflame,  and  the  conquest  of  which  is  ab- 
solutely necessary,  before  we  can  be  prepared  for 
the  felicity  of  heaven  ;  that  whatever  leads  us  out 
of  ourselves,  whatever  unites  us  to  him  and  his 
creatures  in  pure  love,  is  an  important  step  towards 
the  recovery  of  his  image ;  and  finally,  that  his 
church  would  consist  for  the  most  part  of  the  poor 
of  this  iforld,  rich  in  faith,  and  heirs  of  the  king- 
dom, whom  he  was  resolved  to  shield  from  the 
contempt  of  all  those  who  do  not  respect  his  au- 
thority, by  selecting  them  from  the  innumerable 
millions  of  mankind  to  be  the  peculiar  representa- 
tives of  himself. 

Happy  are  they  whose  lives  correspond  to  these 
benevolent  intentions ;  who,  looking  beyond  tlu^ 
transitory  distinctions  which  prevail  here,  and  will 
vanish  at  the  first  approach  of  eternity,  honour  God 
in  his  children,   and  Christ  in  his  image.     How 

16 


m-- 


123 

much,  on  the  contrary,  are  those  to  be  pitied,  ih 
whatever  sphere  they  move,  who  live  to  themselves, 
unmindful  of  the  coming  of  their  Lord.  When  he 
shall  come  and  shall  not  keep  silence,  tchen  a  fire 
shall  devour  before  him,  arid  it  shall  be  very  tem- 
pestuous round  about  him,  every  thing,  it  is  true, 
will  combine  to  fill  them  with  consternation ;  yet, 
methinks,  neither  the  voice  of  the  xlrchangel,  nor 
the  trump  of  God,  nor  the  dissolution  of  the  ele- 
ments, nor  the  face  of  the  Judge  itself,  frrm  which 
the  heavens  will  flee  away,  will  be  so  dismaying 
and  terrible  to  these  men  as  the  sight  of  the  poor 
members  of  Christ;  whom,  having  spurned  and 
Ijeglected  in  the  days  of  their  humiliation,  they  will 
then  behold  with  amiizement  united  to  their  Lord, 
covered  with  his  glory,  and  seated  on  his  throne, 
Huw  will  they  be  astonished  to  see  them  surround- 
ed with  so  much  majesty.  How  will  thry  cast 
down  their  eyes  in  their  presence.  How  will  they 
curse  that  gold,  which  will  then  eat  their  flesh  as 
with  fire,  and  that  avarice,  that  indolence,  that  vo- 
luptuousness, which  will  entitle  them  to  so  much 
misery!  You  will  then  learn  that  the  imitation  of 
Christ  is  the  only  wisdom  :  you  will  then  be  con- 
vinced it  is  better  to  be  endeared  to  the  cottage, 
than  admired  in  the  palace,  when  to  have  wiped 
the  tears  of  the  afflicted,  and  inherited  the  pray- 
ers of  the  widow,  and  the  fatiierless,  shall  be  found 
a  richer  patrimony  than  the  favour  of  princes. 


ACCOUNT 

OF 

THE  BENEVOLENT  SOCIETY, 

FOR  THE  RELIEF  OF  THE  SICK  AXD  AGED  POOR 
INSTITUTED    AT    CAMBRIDGE,    1801. 


Blessed  is  he  that  consifkreth  the  Poor.     Psalm  xli.  1. 
fnasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me.     Matt.  xxv.  40. 


X  HAT  benevolence  is  an  habitual  duty,  arising 
out  of  our  constitution  as  rational  and  social  crea- 
tures, and  enforced  upon  us  by  the  most  powerful 
motives  as  Christians,  no  one  will  deny.  The  va- 
rious exertions  of  the  humane  and  the  pious,  in  pri- 
vate circles  and  in  public  institutions,  are  so  many 
proofs  of  the  truth  of  this  sentiment;  but  notwith- 
standing those  exertions,  there  is  still  ample  room 
for  enlargement.  Tlio&e  persons  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  the  cottages,  or  the  chambers  of 
the  poor,  arc  too  frequently  the  melancholy  wit- 
nesses of  that  extreme  poverty,  pining  sickness, 
and  poignant  distress,  which  energetically  call  for 
relief. 


1^ 

With  the  design  of  administering,  in  some  degree, 
such  relief,  a  number  of  persons,  liave  formed 
themselves  into  a  Society,  the  nature  and  objects 
of  which  are  such,  that  it  may  with  the  greatest 
truth  be  said,  to  deserve^  and  it  can  scarcely  be 
doubted  but  it  will  meet  with  such  encouragement 
as  may  render  it  a  blessing  to  the  poor  of  the  town 
of  Cambridge.  It  is  likewise  ardently  hoped,  that 
the  Society  will  meet  with  such  farther  encourage- 
ment, that  its  benevolent  exertions  may  not  be  con- 
fined to  the  town,  but  extended  to  the  neighbouring 
villages. 

Theirs/  object  of  the  Society  is  to  afford  pecuni- 
ary assistance  to  the  sicJc  and  the  aged  poor.  To 
select  proper  objects,  and  guard  against  the  abuses 
attending  indiscriminate  relief,  visitors  will  be  ap-^ 
pointed  to  examine,  and  judge  of  the  nature  of  every 
case,  and  to  report  the  same  to  a  Committee  of  the 
Society. 

The  second  object  of  the  Society  is — The  moral 
and  religious  improvement  of  the  objects  relieved. 
Awordsjmken  in  due  season  (says  the  Wise  Man) 
hoiv  good  is  it !  The  hour  of  affliction,  the  bed  of 
sickness,  afford  the  most  seasonable  opportunities 
for  usefulness ;  and  it  is  hoped,  that  the  heart  may 
in  a  more  peculiar  manner  be  open  to  the  best  of  im- 
pressions at  such  a  season,  and  when  under  a  sense 
of  obligation  for  relief  already  administered. 


*2S 

In  a  Society  like  the  present,  all  distinctions  of 
sects  and  parties  are  lost  in  the  one  general  design 
of  doing  good ;  and  the  success  which  has  attended 
JBocieties,  nearly  similar,  in  different  parts  of  this 
kingdom,  and  more  particularly  in  the  metropolis, 
in  relieving  the  distress  and  ameliorating  the  condi- 
tion of  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  our  fel- 
low creatuics,  affords  reason  to  hope,  that  under  the 
divine  blessing,  similar  success  will  attend  the  So^ 
ciety  established  in  this  town. 


RULES  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 

I.  Any  person,  of  whatever  denomination,  age,  or 
sex,  disposed  to  assist  this  benevolent  undertaking, 
may  be  admitted  a  subscriber ;  each  subscriber,  on 
admission,  to  pay  not  less  than  one  shilling,  and 
from  two  pence  per  week  to  any  sum  such  subscri- 
ber may  think  proper. 

II.  That  the  business  of  this  Society  be  managed 
by  a  Committee  of  fourteen  persons,  including  the 
Treasurer  and  Secretary;  five  of  whom  shall  be  com- 
petent to  transact  business  : — that  the  Committee  be 
open  to  any  member  of  the  Society,  who  may  think 
proper  to  attend.  In  case  of  any  vacancy  in  the 
Committee,  by  death,  or  resignation,  the  remaining 
members  of  the  Committee  be  empowered  to  fill  up 
such  vacancv. 


126 

III.  That  the  Committee  meet  monthly,  at  each 
others  houses,  to  receive  reports,  consider  of  cases, 
appoint  visitors,  and  audit  their  accounts. 

IV.  That  there  be  an  annual  general  meeting,  of 
which  due  notice  will  be  given,  when  the  state  of 
the  Society  shall  be  reported,  and  the  Treasurer, 
Secretary,  and  Committee  appointed,  to  manage  the 
concerns  thereof. 

V.  That  the  sick  and  the  aged  be  esteemed  the 
only  objects  of  the  compassion  of  this  Society,  and 
when  the  fund  is  reduced  to  the  sum  of  five  pounds, 
the  cases  of  the  sick  alone  shall  be  attended  to, 

VI.  That  no  member  be  allowed  to  recommend  a. 
case,  until  three  months  after  his  or  her  subscription 
hath  commenced,  nor  if  four  months  in  arrears,  un- 
til such  arrears  be  discharged,  provided  they  have 
received  notice  of  the  same. 

VII.  That  no  case  be  received  but  from  a  sub- 
scriber, w  ho  is  expected  to  be  well  acquainted  with 
the  case  recommended,  and  to  report  the  particulars 
to  one  of  the  visitors. 

VIII.  That  the  visitors  be  appointed  to  adminis- 
ter relief,  and  not  the  person  who  recommends  the 
case. 


1S7 

IX.  That  no  subscribers,  while  they  continuft 
such,  shall  receive  any  relief  from  this  Society,  nor 
shall  any  of  those  who  conduct  the  business  thereof 
receive  any  gratuity  for  their  services. 

^*^  The  Committee  consists  of  an  equal  num- 
ber of  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  ;  and  persons  of  both 
sexes  are  appointed  as  visitors,  in  rotation. 

Ifl  Subscriptions  and  Donations  are  received 
by  the  Treasurer,  Secretary,  or  any  member  of  the 
Committee. 

St  a  Geyieral  Meeting  of  the  Society,  held  agree- 
ably to  public  notice,  at  Mr.  Alderman  Ind's,  on 
Monday,  May  3d,  180,2 — It  was 

Resolved,  That  when  the  annual  subscriptions  of 
the  Society  amount  to  sixty  pounds,  and  the  fund 
to  thirty  pounds,  the  Committee  be  empowered  to 
extend  relief  to  other  distressed  objects  besides  the 
sick  and  the  aged. 


THE    SENTIMENTS   PROPER   TO   THE 

PRESENT  CRISIS. 


SERMON, 

PREACHED    AT 

BRIDGE- STREET,  BRISTOL,  ENGLAND, 

OCTOBER,  19,  1803; 

BEING  THE  DAY  APPOINTED 

FOR 

A  GENERAL  FAST. 


BY  ROBERT  HALL,  A.  M. 

Interesset,  non  uler  imperet.     cicEno. 
PROM    THE   LATES.T    LONDON    EDITION. 


17 


SERMON. 


JEREMIAH,  CHAP.  8,  VERSE  6. 

I  hearkened  and  heard,  but  they  spake  not  aright :  no  man 
repented  him  of  his  wickedness,  saying,  What  have  I 
done'?  every  one  turned  to  his  course,  as  the  horse  rush- 
eth  into  the  battle. 

1  HOUGH  we  are  well  assured  the  Divine  Being 
is  attentive  to  tiie  conduct  of  men  at  all  times,  yet  it 
is  but  reasonable  to  believe  he  is  peculiarly  so  whilst 
they  are  under  his  correcting  hand.  Ashe  does  not 
willingly  afflict  the  children  of  men,  he  is  wont  to  do 
it  slowly,  and  at  intervals,  waiting,  if  we  may  so 
speak,  to  see  whether  the  preceding  chastisement 
will  produce  those  sentiments  which  shall  appease 
his  anger,  or  confirm  his  resolution  to  punish.  When 
sincere  humiliation  and  sorrow  for  past  offences 
take  place,  his  displeasure  subsides,  he  relents  and 
repents  himself  of  the  evil.  Tims  he  speaks  by  the 
mouth  of  Jeremiah  :  wit  what  instant  I  shall  speak 
concerning  a  nation  and  concerning  a  kingdom,  to 


13S 

pluck  uj},  and  to  pulldown,  and  to  destroy  it,  if  that 
nation  against  wliom  I  have  pronounced,  turn  from 
their  evil,  I  will  repent  of  the  evil  that  I  thought  to 
do  unto  them. 

We  are  this  day  assembled  at  the  call  of  our  Sov- 
ereign, to  humble  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  Al- 
mighty God,  under  a  sense  of  our  sins,  and  to  im- 
plore his  interposition,  that  we  may  not  be  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  our  enemies,  nor  fall  a  prey  to  tbe 
malice  of  those  who  hate  us.  It  is  surely,  then,  of 
the  utmost  consequence  to  see  to  it,  that  our  humili- 
ation be  deep,  our  repentance  sincere,  and  the  dis- 
positions we  cherish,  as  well  as  t!ie  resolutions  we 
form,  suitable  to  the  nature  of  the  crisis,  and  the  so- 
lemnity of  the  occasion  j  such,  in  a  word,  as  Omnis- 
cience will  approve. 

In  the  words  of  the  text,  the  Lord  reproaches  the 
people  of  Israel  with  not  speaking  aright,  and  com- 
plains that,  while  he  was  waiting  to  hear  the  lan- 
guage of  penitential  sorrow  and  humiliation,  he  wit- 
nessed nothing  but  an  insensibility  to  his  reproofs, 
an  obstinate  perseverance  in  guilt,  with  a  fatal  ea- 
ge^'ness  to  rush  to  their  former  course.  He  hearJc- 
ened  and  heard,  but  they  spake  not  aright :  no  man 
repented  himself  of  his  iniquity  ^  nor  said,  WJiat  have 
I  done  P  hut  every  one  rushed  to  his  course,  as  the 
horse  rasheih  into  the  battle. 


133 

As  the  principles  of  the  divine  administration  arc 
invariable,  and  the  situation  of  Great  Britain  at  this 
moment,  not  altogether  unlike  that  of  Israel  at  the 
time  this  portion  of  prophecy  was  penned,  perhaps 
"We  cannot  better  improve  the  present  solemnity,  than 
by  taking  occasion  from  the  words  before  us  to  point 
out  some  of  those  sentiments  and  views  which  ap- 
pear in  the  present  crisis  not  to  be  ris;ht,  and  after 
exploding  these,  to  endeavour  to  substitute  more 
correct  ones  in  their  stead. 

1.  They  who  content  themselves  with  an  attempt 
to  trace  national  judgments  to  their  natural  causes, 
without  looking  any  higher,  entertain  a  view  of  the 
subject  very  inadequate  to  the  demands  of  the  pre- 
sent season.  When  you  have  traced  to  the  efl'ccts 
of  an  unparalleled  convulsion  on  the  continent,  to 
the  relative  situation  of  foreign  powers,  to  the  tur- 
bulent passions  and  insatiable  ambition  of  an  indi- 
vidual, the  evils  which  threaten  us,  whatJmve  you 
done  to  mitigate  those  evils  ?  What  alleviation 
have  yon  aiforded  to  perplexity  and  distress  ?  They 
still  exist  in  all  their  force.  Far  be  it  from  me  U> 
attempt  to  discourage  political  enquiry.  An  enqui- 
ry into  the  sources  of  great  events,  an  attempt  to 
develope  the  more  hidden  causes  which  influence, 
under  God,  the  destiny  of  nations,  is  an  exercise  of 
the  mental  powers  more  noble  than  almost  any 
other,  inasmuch  as  it  embraces  the  widest  field,  and 
grasps  a  chain  whose  links  are  the  most  numerous, 


13^ 

complicated,    and    subtile.      The    most    profound 
political   speculations,  however,   the   most  refined 
theories  of  government,   though  they  establish  the 
fame  of  their  authors,   will  be  found,   perhaps,  to 
have  had  very   little  influence   on  the  happiness  of 
nations.     As  the   art  of  criticism  never  made  an 
orator  or   a  poet,   though  it  enables  us  to  judge  of 
their  merits,   so  the  comprehensive   speculation   of 
modern  times,   which   has  reviewed  and  compared 
the  manners  and  institutions  of  every  age  and  coun- 
try, has  never  formed  a  wise  government  or  a  happy 
people.     It  arrives  too  late  for  that  purpose,  since 
it  owes  its  existence  to  an  extensive  survey  of  man- 
kind, under  a  vast  variety  of  forms,  through  all  those 
periods  of   national   improvement  and    decay,    hi 
which  the   happiest  efforts  of  wisdom  and  policy 
have  been  already  made.     The  welfare  of  a  nation 
depends   much   less  on  the  refined  wisdom  of  the 
few,  than  on  the  manners  and  character  of  the  many; 
and  as  moral  and  religious  principles  have  the  chief 
influence  in  forming  that  character,  so  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  hand  of  God,   a  deep  sense   of  his 
dominion,  is  amongst  the  first  of  those   principles. 
While  we  attend  to  the  operation  of  second  causes, 
let  us  never  forget  that  there  is  a  Being  who  is 
placed  above   them,    who   can  move  and   arrange 
them  at  pleasure,  and  in  wiiose  hands  they  never 
fail   to   accomplish  the  purposes    of   liis   unerring 
counsel.     The   honour  of  the   Supreme   Ruler  re- 
quires that  his  supremacy  should  be  acknowledged. 


135 

his  agency  confessed  ;  nor  is  there  any  thing  which 
he  more  intends  by  his  chastisements  than  to  ex- 
tort this  confession,  or  any  thing  he  more  highly 
resents,  than  an  attempt  to  exclude  him  from  the  con- 
cerns of  his  own  world.  Woe  unto  them  (saith 
Isaiah)  that  rise  up  early  in  the  morning  that  they 
may  follow  strong  drink,  that  continue  till  night, 
until  wine  inflame  them  :  and  the  harp,  and  the 
viol,  and  the  tabret,  and  the  pipe  are  in  their  feasts  ; 
hut  they  regard  not  the  work  of  the  Lord^  neither 
consider  the  operation  of  his  hands — Isaiah  v.  11. 
The  same  prophet  complains,  that  while  the  hand 
of  Jehovah  was  lifted  up  they  would  not  see ; 
but  he  adds,  they  shall  see.  If  lighter  chastise- 
ments will  not  suffice,  he  has  heavier  in  reserve  ; 
if  they  despise  his  reproofs,  he  will  render  his  an- 
ger with  fury,  his  rebukes  with  flames  of  fire  :  he 
is  resolved  to  overcome  ;  and  what  must  be  the 
issue  of  a  contest  with  Omnipotence,  it  is  as  easy 
to  foresee  as  it  is  painful  to  contemplate. 

S.  They  speak  not  aright,  who,  instead  of  plac- 
ing their  reliance  on  God  for  safety,  repose  only  on 
an  arm  of  flesh.  The  perfect  unanimity  which  prc- 
Tails,  the  ardour  to  defend  every  thing  dear  to  us, 
which  is  expressed  by  all  classes,  the  sacrifices 
cheerfully  made,  the  labours  sustained,  and  the 
mighty  preparations  by  sea  and  land,  which  the 
vigilance  of  government  has  set  on  foot  to  repel  the 
enemy  from  our  coasts,  or  insure   his   discomfituie 


134) 

should    he   arrive,  must  be  highly  satisfactory  to 
eveiy  well  disposed  mind.     They  afford,  as  far  as 
human  means   can  afford,  a  well  founded  prospect 
of  success.     Though  there  is,  on  this  account,  no 
room  to  despond,  but  much  on  the  contrary  to  lead 
us  to  anticipate  a  favourable  issue  to  the  contest; 
yet,  nothing,   surely  can   justify  that  language   of 
extravagant    boast,    that  proud   confidence  in  our 
national  force,  without  any  acknowledged  depend- 
ence upon  God,  which,  however  fashionable  it  may 
be,  is  as  remote  from  the  dictates  of  true  courage 
as  of  true  piety.     True  courage  is  firm  and  unas- 
suming:   true  piety   serious   and  humble.     In  the 
midst  of  all  our  preparations,  we  shall,  if  we  are 
"wise,  repose  our  chief  confidence  in   him  who  has 
every  element  at  his  disposal ;  who  can  easily  dis- 
concert the  wisest  councils,  confound  the  mightiest 
projects,  and  save  when  he  pleases,  by  many  or  by 
few.     While  the  vanity  of  such  a  pretended  reli- 
ance on  Providence  as  supersedes  the  use  of  means, 
is  readily  confessed,  it  is  to  be  feared   we  are  not 
sufficiently  careful  to  guard  against  a  contrary  ex- 
treme, in  its  ultimate  effects  not  less  dangerous.    If 
to  depend  on  the  interposition  of  Providence  with- 
out human  exertion,  be  to  tempt  God,  and  to  confide 
in  an  arm  of  flesh,  without  seeking  his  aid,  is  to 
deny  him ;    the  former  is  to  be  pitied  for  its  weak- 
ness, the  latter  to  be  censured  for  its  impiety :  nor 
is  it    easy    to    say   which  affords  the  worst  omen 
of  success.     Let   us   avoid  both  these  extremes; 


137 

availing  ourselves  of  all  the  resources  which  wis- 
dom can  suggest,  or  energy  produce  ;  let  us  still 
feel  and  acknowledge  our  absolute  dependence 
apon  God.  With  humble  and  contrite  hearts,  with 
filial  confidence  and  affection,  let  us  flee  to  his  arms^ 
that  thus  we  may  enjoy  the  united  supports  of  rea- 
son  and  religion,  and  every  principle,  human  and 
divine,  may  concur  to  assure  us  of  our  safety.  Thus 
shall  we  effectually  shun  the  denunciations  so  fre- 
quent and  so  terrible,  contained  in  his  holy  word, 
against  the  vanity  of  human  confidences.  Cursed 
is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  man,  and  maketh  flesh 
his  arm. 

3.  Their  conduct  is  not  to  be  approved,  who,  in 
the  present  crisis,  indulge  in  wanton  and  indiscrim- 
inate censure  of  the  measures  of  our  rulers.  I  say 
wanton  and  indiscriminate^  because  the  privelege 
of  censuring,  with  moderation  and  decency,  the 
measures  of  government,  is  essential  to  a  free  con- 
stitution ;  a  privilege  which  can  never  lose  its  value 
in  the  eyes  of  the  public,  till  it  is  licentiously  abus- 
ed. The  temperate  exercise  of  this  privelege,  is  a 
most  useful  restraint  on  those  errors  and  excesses, 
to  which  the  possession  of  power  supplies  a  temp> 
tation.  The  free  expression  of  the  public  voice  is 
capable  of  overawing  those  who  have  nothing  be- 
side  to  apprehend  ;  and  the  tribunal  of  public  opin- 
ion  is  one,  whose  decisions  it  is  not  easy  for  men, 
in  the  most  elevated  stations,   to  despise.     To  thi«i 

18 


138 

we  niJij'  add,  that  the  unrestrained  diseussion  of 
national  affairs,  not  only  gives  weight  to  the  senti= 
ments^  but  is  eminently  adapted  to  enlighten  the 
minds  of  a  people,  and,  consequently,  to  increase 
that  general  l|ind  of  talent  and  information,  from 
which  the  accomplishments  even  of  statesmen  them- 
selves must  be  ultimately  derived.  While,  there- 
fore, we  maintain  this  privilege  with  jealous  care, 
let  us  be  equally  careful  not  to  abuse  it.  There  is 
a  deference  and  respect,  in  my  apprehension,  due 
to  civil  governors  on  account  of  their  office,  which 
we  are  not  permitted  to  violate,  even  when  we  are 
under  the  necessity  of  blaming  their  measures. 
When  the  apostle  Paul  was  betrayed  into  an  in- 
temperate expression  of  anger  against  the  Jewish 
High  Priest,  from  an  ignorance  of  the  station  he 
occupied,  he  was  no  sooner  informed  of  this,  than 
he  apologized,  and  quoted  a  precept  of  the  Mosaic 
Jjaw,  which  says,  TJioii  shalt  not  revile  the  gods, 
nor  curse  the  ruler  of  thy  people  ;  in  agreement 
with  which,  the  New  Testament  subjoins  to  the 
duty  of  fearing  God,  that  of  honouring  the  king ; 
and  frequently  and  emphatically  inculcates  submis- 
sion  to  civil  rulers,  not  so  much  from  a  fear  of  tiieir 
power,  as  from  a  respect  for  their  office. 

The  ancient  prophets,  it  is  true,  in  the  immedi^ 
ate  discharge  of  their  functions,  appear  to  have 
treated  kings  and  princes  with  no  sort  of  ceremony. 
But  before  we  establish  their  style  into  a  precedent^. 


139 

let  us  recollect  tliey  were  privileged  persons,  speak, 
ing  expressly  in  the  name  of  the  Most  High,  who 
gave  them  his  words,  and  invested  them  for  the 
moment  with  a  portion  of  his  majesty. 

Apart  from  the  personal    characters  of  rulers, 
which  are  fluctuating  and  variable,   you  will  find 
the  apostles  continually  enjoin  respect  to  govern- 
ment as  government f  as  a  permanent  ordinance  of 
God,  susceptible  of  various  modifications  from  hu- 
man wisdom,   but  essential,   under   some  form   or 
other,  to  the  existence  of  society  ;  and  affording  a 
representation,  faint  and  inadequate,  it  is  true,  but 
still  a  representation  of  the   dominion  of  God  over 
the  earth.     The  wisdom  of  resting  the  duty  of  sub- 
mission on  this  ground  is  obvious.     Tiie  possession 
of  ofiRce  forms  a  plain  and  palpable  distinction,  lia- 
ble to  no  ambiguity  or  dispute.     Personal  merits, 
on  the  contrary,  are  easily  contested,  so  that  if  the 
obligation   of  obedience  were  founded  on  these,  it 
would  have  no  kind  of  force,  nor  retain  any  sort  of 
hold  on  the  conscitMice ;  the  bonds  of  social  order 
might  be  dissolved  by  an  epigram  or  a  song.     The 
more  liberal  sentiments  of  respect  for  institutions 
being  destroyed,  nothing  would  remain  to  insure 
tranquillity  but  a  servile  fear  of  men.     In  the  total 
absence  of  those  sentiments,  the  mildest  exertion  of 
authority   would    be   felt  as   an   injury :    authority 
would  soon  cease  to  be  mild  ;    and  princes  would 
have  no  alternative^  but  that  of  governing  their  sub- 


140 

jecti  with  the  severe  jealousy  of  a  master  ovejr 
slaves  impatient  of  revolt :  so  narrow  is  the  bound- 
arj  which  separates  a  licentious  freedom  from  a 
ferocious  tyranny.  How  incomparably  more  noble, 
salutary,  an»l  just,  are  the  maxims  the  apostles  lay 
down  on  this  subject.  Let  eveyy  soul  be  subject 
unto  the  Jiigher  poivers :  for  there  is  no  power  but 
of  God :  the  poivers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God: 
whosoever  resisteth  therefore  the  power,  resisteth 
the  ordinance  of  God,  and  they  that  resist  shall  re- 
ceive to  themselves  damnation.  For  rulers  are  not 
a  terror  to  good  works,  but  to  the  evil.  Wilt  thou 
then  not  he  afraid  of  the  power?  Bo  that  which  is 
good,  and  thou  shalt  have  praise  of  the  same.  For 
he  is  the  vfiinister  of  God  to  thee  for  good.  Where- 
fore ye  must  needs  be  subject,  not  only  for  wrath, 
but  also  for  conscience  sake.  We  sliall  do  well  to 
guard  against  any  system  which  would  withdraw 
the  duties  we  owe  to  our  rulers  and  to  society  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  conscience  ;  that  principle  of 
the  mind,  whose  prerogative  it  is  to  prescribe  to 
every  other,  and  to  pronounce  that  definitive  sen- 
tence from  which  there  is  no  appeal.  A  good 
man  is  accustomed  to  acquiesce  in  the  idea  of  his 
duties  as  an  ultimate  object,  without  inquiring  at 
every  step  why  he  should  perform  them,  or  amusing 
himself  with  imagining  cases  and  situations  in  which 
they  would  be  liable  to  limitations  and  exceptions. 
Instead  of  being  curious  after  these  (for  I  do  not 
fleny  that  such  exceptions  exist)  let  the  great  gene- 


141 

ral  duty  of  submission  to  civil  aMthority  be  engra- 
ven on  our  hearts,  wrought  into  the  very  habit  of 
the  mind;  and  made  a  part  of  our  elementary  mo- 
rality. 

At  this  season  especially,  when  unanimity  is  so 
requisite,  every  endeavour  to  excite  discontent,  by 
reviling  the  character  or  depreciating  the  talents  of 
those  who  are  entrusted  with  the  administration,  is 
highly  criminal.  Without  suspicion  of  flattery,  we 
may  be  permitted  to  add,  that  the  ardor  of  their  zeal 
in  the  service  of  their  country  cannot  be  questioned  ; 
that  the  vast  preparations  they  have  made  for  our 
defence  claim  our  gratitude ;  and  that  if,  in  a  situ- 
ation so  arduous,  and  in  the  management  of  affairs 
so  complicated  and  difficult,  they  have  committed 
mistakes,  they  are  amply  entitled  to  a  candid  con- 
struction of  their  measures. 

Having  been  detained  by  these  reflections  some- 
what longer  than  was  intended,  it  is  high  time  to  re- 
turn to  those  religious  considerations  which  are  more 
immediately  appropriate  to  the  present  season.  I 
therefore  proceed  to  add, 

4.  That  they  appear  to  entertain  mistaken  senti- 
ments, who  rely  with  too  much  confidence  for  suc- 
cess on  our  supposed  superiority  in  virtue  to  our  en- 
emies. Such  a  confidence  betrays  inattention  to  the 
actual  conduct  of  Providence.     Wherever  there  is 


14a 

conscious  guilt,  there  is  room  to  apprehend  punish- 
ment ;  nor  is  it  for  the  criminal  to  decide  where  the 
merited  punishment  shall  first  fall.  The  cup  of  di- 
vine displeasure  is  presented  successively  to  guilty 
nations,  but  it  by  no  means  invariably  begins  with 
those  who  have  run  the  greatest  career  in  guilt.  On 
the  contr^Lvy,  judgment  often  begins  at  the  house  of 
God  ;  and  he  frequently  chastises  his  servants  with 
severity,  before  he  proceeds  to  the  destruction  of  his 
enemies.  He  assured  Abraham,  his  seed  should 
be  afflicted  in  Egypt  for  four  hundred  years,  and 
that  after  their  expiration,  the  nation  that  afflicted 
them  he  would  judge.  The  Assyrian  Monarchs, 
blind  and  impious  idolaters,  were  permitted  for  a 
long  period  to  enslave  and  oppress  the  chosen  peo- 
ple ;  after  which,  to  use  his  own  words,  he  punished 
the  fruit  of  the  proud  heart  of  the  king  of  Babylon, 
and  having  accomplished  his  design  in  their  correc- 
tion, cast  the  rod  into  the  fire.  His  conduct,  on  such 
occasions,  resembles  that  of  a  parent,  who  full  of 
solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  his  children,  animad- 
verts upon  faults  in  them,  which  he  suifers  to  pass 
without  notice  in  persons  for  whom  he  is  less  inter- 
estcd.  Let  us  adore  both  the  goodness  and  sever- 
ity of  God.  The  punishments,  which  are  designed 
to  amend,  are  inflicted  with  comparative  vigilance 
and  speed  ;  those,  which  are  meant  to  destroy,  are 
usually  long  suspended,  while  the  devoted  victimi^ 
pass  on  with  seeming  impunity. 


143 

But,  independent  of  this  consideration,  that  supe- 
riority in  virtue  which  is  claimed,  may  be  neither  so 
great  nor  so  certain  as  we  are  ready  at  first  to  sup- 
pose. To  decide  on  the  comparative  guilt  of  two 
individuals,  much  more  of  two  nations,  demands  a 
more  comprehensive  knowledge  of  circumstances 
than  we  are  usually  able  to  obtain.  To  decide  a 
question  of  this  sort,  it  is  not  enough  barely  to  in- 
spect the  manners  of  each  ;  for  the  quality  of  ac- 
tions, considered  in  themselves  is  one  thing,  and  the 
comparative  guilt  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  belong 
is  another.  Before  we  can  determine  such  a  ques- 
tion, it  is  necessary  to  weigh  and  estimate  the  com- 
plicated influences  to  which  they  are  exposed,  the 
tendency  of  all  their  institutions,  their  respective 
degrees  of  information,  and  the  comparative  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  under  which  they  are 
placed.  And  who  is  equal  to  such  a  survey,  but 
the  Supreme  Judge,  to  whom  it  belongs  to  decide 
on  the  character  both  of  nations  and  individuals  ? 

Our  enemies  it  is  true,  in  the  moments  of  anarchy 
and  madness,  treated  the  religion  of  Jesus  with  an 
ostentation  of  insult,  but  it  was  not  till  that  religion 
had  been  disguised,  and  almost  concealed  frotn  their 
view  under  a  veil  of  falsehoods  and  impostures. 
The  religion  they  rejected,  debased  by  foreign  in- 
fusions, mingled  with  absurd  tenets,  trifling  super- 
stitions, and  cruel  maxims,  retained  scarce  any  tra- 
ces of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.     The  best  of  men 


14^j 

were  compelled  to  flee  their  country  to  avoid  Us  per^ 
secutiiig  fury,  while  the  souls  under  the  altar  were 
employed  day  and  night  in  accusing  it  before  God. 
Religious  inquiry  was   suppressed,  the  perusal  of 
the  word  of  God  discountenanced,  or  rather  prohib«- 
ited,  and  that  book,  to  loose  whose  seals  the  Lamb 
condescended  to  be  slain,  impiously  closed  by  those 
who  styled  themselves  its  ministers.     In  this  situa- 
tion it  is  less  surprising  if  the  body  of  the  people,* 
misled  by  pretended  philosophers,  lost  sight  of  the 
feeble  glimmerings  of  light  which  shone  in  the  midst 
of  so  much  obscurity.  How  far  these  considerations 
may  extenuate,   before  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  the 
guilt  of  our  enemies,  it  remains  with  him  to  deter- 
mine.    It  is  certain,  our  guilt  is  accompanied  with 
no  such  extenuation.     With   us  the   darkness  has 
long  been  past,  and  the  true  light  has   arisen  upon 
us.     We  have  long  possessed  the  clearest  display  of 
divine  truth,  together  with  the  fullest  liberty  of  con- 
science.    The  mysteries  of  the  gospel  have  been  un- 
veiled, and  its  sanctifying  truths  pressed  on  the  con- 
science by  those  who  havhig  received  such  a  minis- 
try, knew  it  to  be  their  duty  to  use  great  plainness 
of  speech. 

The  language  of  invective,  it  is  acknowledged, 
should  be  as   carefully  avoided  in  dispensing  the 

'  Tlie  author  bcg-s  this  remark  may  be  understood  to  appl)'  to  tlie 
Frencli  people  only,  and  not  by  any  means  to  their  infidel  leaders.  Of 
the  iiifidclii}'  nf  the  latiev,  there  needs  no  other  solution  to  be  given  than 


i45 

word  of  God  as  tba,t  of  adulation  ;  but  may  we  not, 
without  apprehension,  ask  whether  it  is  not  a  mel- 
anc'.ioly  trulli,  that  many  of  us  have  continued  in  the 
midst  of  all  this  light  unchanged  and  impenitent ; 
that  if  our  enemies,  with  frantic  impiety,  renounced 
the  forms  of  religion,  we  remain  destitute  of  the  pow- 
er ;  and  (hat  if  they  abandoned  the  christian  name, 
the  name  is  nearly  the  whole  of  Christianity  to  which 
we  can  pretend  ?  Still  we  are  ready,  perhaps,  to  ex. 
claim  with  the  people  of  Israel  in  the  context,  JVe  are 
wisp,  and  the  laic  of  the  Lord  is  with  us.  Let  us  hear 
the  propliet's  reply  :  Surely  in  vain  hath  he  made  it  ; 
the  pen  of  the  scribes  is  in  vain.  That  law  is  most 
emphatically  in  vain,  which  is  the  subject  of  boast 
without  being  obeyed.  That  dispensation  of  reli 
gion,  however  perfect  is  in  vain,  which  cherishes 
the  pride,  without  forming  the  manners  of  a  people. 
Were  we,  indeed,  a  religious  people,  were  the  tra- 
ces of  Christianity  as  visible  in  our  lives  as  they  are 
in  our  creeds  and  confessions,  we  might  derive  solid 
support  from  the  comparison  of  ourselves  with 
others  ;  but  if  the  contrary  be  the  fact,  and  there  are 
with  us.  even  with  us,  sins  against  the  Lord  our  God, 
it  will  be  our  wisdom  to  relinquish  this  plea,  and 
instead  of  boasting  our  superior  virtue,  to  lie  low  in 
humiliation  and  repentance. 

the  Sci'ipUire  one  :  The-i  hted  darkness  rather  than  Ught,   beeaiiso  thev 
doedn  -irrrp  PZ'if 


19 


146 

5.  General  lamentations  and  acknowle(l£:iMentp 
of  the  corruptions  of  the  age,  be  they  ever  so  well- 
founded,  fall  very  short  of  the  real  duties  of  this 
season.  It  is  not  difficult,  how  ever  painful  to  a  good 
mind,  to  descant  on  the  luxury,  the  venality,  th« 
impiety  of  the  age,  the  irreligion  of  the  rich,  the 
immorality  of  the  poor,  and  the  general  forgetful- 
ness  of  God  which  pervades  all  classes.  Such 
topics  it  would  be  utterly  improper  to  exclude. 
But  to  dwell  on  these  alone,  answers  very  little 
purpose.  The  sentiments  they  excite  are  too  vague 
and  indistinct  to  make  a  lasting  impression.  To 
invest  ourselves  with  an  imaginary  character,  t« 
represent  the  nation  to  which  we  belong,  and  com- 
bining into  one  group  the  vices  of  the  times,  to  ut- 
ter loud  lamentations,  or  violent  invectives  is  aa 
easy  task. 

But  this,  whatever  it  be,  is  not  repentance.  Af- 
ter bewailing  in  this  manner  the  sins  of  others,  it  is 
possible  to  continue  quite  unconcerned  about  our 
own.  He  who  has  been  thus  employed,  may  have 
been  merely  acting  a  part ;  uttering  confessions  in 
which  he  never  meant  to  take  a  personal  share. 
He  would  be  mortally  offended,  perhaps,  to  have  i^ 
suspected  that  he  himself  had  been  guilty  of  any  one 
of  the  sins  he  has  been  deploij^tig,  or  that  he  had 
contributed,  in  the  smallest  degree,  to  draw  down 
the  judgments  he  so  solemnly  deprecates.     All  hag 


147 

been  transacted  under  a  feii^ned  character.  Instead 
ef  repenting  himself  of  his  iniquity,  or  saying. 
What  have  I  done?  lie  secretly  prides  himself  on 
his  exemption  from  tiie  general  stain  ;  and  all  the 
advantage  he  derives  from  his  humiliations  and 
confessions,  is  to  become  more  deeply  enamoured 
of  the  perfections  of  what  he  supposes  his  real  char- 
acter.  To  such  I  would  say,  you  are  under  a  dan. 
gerous  delusion,  and  the  manner  in  which  you  per- 
form the  duties  of  this  season  completes  that  delu- 
sion Your  repentance,  your  feigned,  your  theatrical 
repentance,  tends  to  fix  you  in  impenitence,  and  your 
humiliation  to  make  you  proud.  Whatever  opinion 
you  may  entertain  of  the  character  of  others,  your 
©hief  concern  is  at  home.  When  you  have  broken 
•ff  your  own  sins  by  righteousness,  you  may,  with 
a  more  perfect  propriety,  deplore  the  sins  of  the 
nation  ;  you  may  intercede  for  it  in  your  prayers, 
and,  within  the  limits  of  your  sphere,  edify  it  by 
your  example;  but  till  you  have  taken  this  first, 
this  necessary  step,  you  have  done  nothing ;  and 
should  the  whole  nation  follow  your  example,  and 
eopy  the  spirit  of  your  devotion,  we  should  after 
all,  remain  an  impenitent,  and  finally,  a  ruined 
people. 

Allow  me  here,  though  it  may  seem  a  digression, 
,io  endeavour  the  correction  of  a  mistake,  which 
appears  to  me  to  have  greatly  perplexed,  as  well 
as  abridged,  the  duties    of  similar  seasons  to  the 


148 

present.  The  mistake  to  wliicli  T  allude,  respects 
the  true  idea  of  national  sins.  Many  seem  to  take 
it  for  granted,  that  nothing  can  justly  he  deemed  a 
national  sin,  but  what  has  the  sanction  of  the  legis- 
lature, or  is  committed  under  public  authority. 
"When  they  hear,  therefore,  of  national  sins,  they  in- 
stantly revolve  in  their  minds  something  which  they 
apprehend  to  be  criminal  in  the  conduct  of  public  af- 
fairs. That  iniquity,  when  established  by  law,  is 
more  conspicuous,  that  it  tends  to  a  more  general 
corruption,  and  by  poisoning  the  streams  of  justice 
at  their  source,  produces  more  extensive  mischief, 
than  under  any  other  circumstances,  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  deny.  Jn  a  country,  moreover,  where  the 
pe<>ple  have  a  voice  in  the  government,  the  corrup- 
tion of  their  laws  must  first  have  inhered,  and  be- 
come inveterate  in  their  manners.  Such  corruption 
is  therefore  not  so  much  an  instance  as  a  monument 
of  national  degeneracy  ;  but  it  by  no  means  fallows 
that  this  is  the  only  just  idea  of  national  sins.  Na- 
tional sins  are  the  sins  of  tlie  nation.  The  system 
which  teaches  us  to  consider  a  peojile  as  speaUiug 
and  rcfing  merely  through  tlie  meditim  of  its  prince 
or  legislature,  however  useful  or  necessary  to  adjust 
the  intercourse  of  nations  with  each  other,  is  too 
technical,  too  artificial,  too  much  of  a  compromise 
with  the  imperfection  essential  to  human  affairs,  to 
enter  into  the  view  s.  or  regulate  the  conduct  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  He  sees  things  as  they  are  ;  and 
as  the  greater  part  of  the  crimes  committed  in  every 


U9 

country  are  perpetrated  by  its  inhabitants  in  their 
individual  cliaracter,  it  is  tliese,  though  not  to  the 
exclusion  of  others,  which  chiefly  provoke  the  divine 
judgments. 

To  consider  national  sins  as  merely  comprehend- 
ing the  vices  of  rulers,  or  the  iniquities  tolerated  by 
lavr,  is  to  place  the  duties  of  such  a  season  as  this 
in  a  very  invidious  and  a  very  inadequate  light.  It 
is  to  rpud<'r  them  invidious  :  for  upon  this  principle 
our  chief  business  on  such  occasions  is,  to  single 
out  for  attack  those  whom  we  are  commanded  to 
obey,  to  descant  on  public  abuses,  and  to  hold  up  to 
detestation  and  abhorrence  the  supposed  delinqu<n- 
cies  of  the  government  under  w  hich  we  are  placed. 
How  far  such  a  conduct  tends  to  promote  that  bro- 
ken and  contrite  heart  w  liich  is  heaven's  best  sacri- 
fice, it  requires  no  great  sagacity  to  discover. 

It  is  moreover,  to  exhibit  a  most  inadequate  view 
of  the  duties  of  this  season.  It  coniincs  iiumiliatiou 
and  confession  to  a  mere  scantlins:  of  the  sins  which 
pollute  a  nation.  Under  the  worst  governments  (to 
say  nothing  of  our  own)  the  chief  perversions  of 
right  are  not  found  in  courts  of  justice,  nor  the  chief 
outrages  on  virtue  in  the  law  s,  nor  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  atrocities  in  the  public  administration.  Civil 
government,  the  great  antidote  which  the  wisdom 
of  man  has  applied  to  tlie  crimes  and  disorders 
that  spring  up  in  society,  can  scarcely  ever  become, 


in  no  free  country  at  least,  is  it  possible  for  it  to 
become,  itself  the  chief  crime  and  disorder.  It 
may,  on  occasion,  prescribe  particular  things  that 
are  wrong,  and  sometimes  reward  where  it  ought 
to  punish  ;  but  unless  it  bent  its  force,  for  the  most 
part,  to  the  encouragement  of  virtue  and  the  sup- 
pression of  vice  ;  unless  the  general  spirit  of  its  laws 
were  in  unison  with  the  dictates  of  conscience,  it 
would  soon  fall  to  pieces  from  intestine  weakness 
and  disorder. 

A  last  appeal,  in  all  moral  questions,  lies  to  the 
Scriptures,  were  you  will  invariably  find  the  pro- 
phets, in  their  boldest  paintings  of  national  vice, 
in  their  severest  denunciations  of  divine  anger,  are 
so  far  from  confining  their  representation  to  the 
conduct  of  rulers,  that  they  are  seldom  mentioned 
in  comparison  of  the  people.  Their  attention  is 
chiefly  occupied  in  depicting  the  corruptions  which 
prevailed  in  the  several  classes  of  the  community, 
among  which  the  crimes  of  princes  and  judges  are 
most  severely  reprehended^  not  as  representatives, 
but  as  parts  of  the  whole.  They  know  nothing  of 
that  refinement,  by  which  a  people  are  at  liberty  to 
transfer  their  vices  to  their  rulers.  To  confirm 
this  remark,  by  adducing  all  the  instances  the  pro- 
phecies afford,  would  be  to  quote  a  great  part  of 
the  Old  Testament:  it  is  sufficient  to  refer  you  to 
the  twenty  second  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  where,  after 
pourtrayiug  the  manners  of  the  age  with  the  pecu- 


i9i 

liar  reheraence  of  style  which  distinguished  that 
holy  prophet,  he  closes  liis  description  with  these 
remarkable  words  :  And  I  sought  for  a  man  amo7ig 
them  that  should  make  up  the  hedge,  and  stand  in 
the  gup  before  me  for  the  land,  that  I  should  not 
destroy  it:  but  I  found  none. 

Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  with  vain  words.  Th* 
just  displeasure  of  God,  as  it  will  by  no  means 
spare  the  great  when  tliey  are  criminal  and  impeni- 
tent, so  neither  is  it  excited  by  thei,r  wickedness 
alone.  It  is  afire  supplied  from  innumerable  sources, 
to  which  every  crime  contributes  its  quota,  and 
which  every  portion  of  guilt,  wherever  it  is  found, 
causes  to  burn  with  ausimented  violence. 


'S' 


1  Having  thus  endeavoured  to  expose  those  grounds 
of  confidence  which  appear  replete  with  danger,  it 
will  not  be  necessary  to  dwell  long  on  the  remain- 
ing part  of  the  subject.  To  be  aware  of  the  several 
wrong  paths  into  which  we  are  liable  to  be  misled, 
is  the  principal  requisite  to  the  finding  out  that 
which  is  alone  the  true  and  riglit  one. 

The  first  duty  to  which  our  situation  summons  us, 
is  a  devout  acknowledgment  of  the  hand  of  God. 
To  this,  whatever  be  tlie  instruments  employed,  re- 
ligion instructs  us  ultimately  to  refer  national  calam- 
ities as  well  as  national  blessings.  That  the  Lord 
reigns,  is  one  of  those  truths  which  lie  at  the  very 


ids 

basis  of  piety  ;  nor  is  there  any  more  consoling.     It 
fills  the  heart,  under  a  right  impression  of  it,  with  a 
cheerful  hope,  and  unruffled  tranquillity  amidst  the 
changes  and  trials  of  life,  which  we  shall  look  for 
in  vain  from  any  other  quarter.     It  is   this  chiefly 
which  formed  and  distinguished   the  character  of 
those   who    are   emphatically  said   to  have  walked 
with  God.     Important  as  tliis  disposition  is   under 
all  circumstances,  it  is  what  more  especially  suits  the 
present  crisis,  and  which  the  events  we  have   wit- 
nessed are  so  eminently  calculated  to  impress.     The 
Psalmist  accounts  for  the  wicked's  refusing  to  seek 
after  God,  from  their  having  no  changes ;  and  cer- 
tainly an  uninterrupted  series  of  prosperity,  is  not 
favourable  to  piety.     But  if  ire  forget  God,  we  can- 
not plead  even  this  slight  extenuation  ;  for  the  times 
that  Me  passing  over  us,  in  the  solemn  phrase  of 
Scripture,  are  eventful   beyond  all  former  example 
or  conception.  The  fearful  catastrophies,  the  strange 
vicissitudes,    the    sudden    revolutions    of   fortune, 
which,  thinly  scattered  heretofore  over  a  long  tract 
of  ages,  poets  and  historians  have  collected,  and  ex 
hihited  to  the  terror  and  the  commiseration  of  man- 
kind, have  crowded  upon  us  with  so  strange  rapid- 
ity, and  thickened  so  fast,  that  they  have  become 
perfectly  familiar,  and  are  almost  numbered  among 
ordinary  events.     Astonishment  has  exhausted  it- 
self; and  whatever  occurs,  we  cease  to  be  surpris- 
ed.    In  short,  every  thing  around  us,  in  tlic  course 
of  a  few  years,  is  so  changed,  that  did  not  the  per- 


193 

manenee  and  stability  of  the  material,  form  a  con- 
trast to  the  fluctuations  of  the  moral  and  political 
world,  we  might  he  tempted  to  suppose  we  had  been 
removed  to  another  state,  or  that  all  those  things 
that  have  happened,  were  but  the  illusions  of  fancy 
and  the  visions  of  the  night.  How  consoling,  at 
such  a  season,  to  look  up  to  that  Being,  who  is  a 
very  present  help  in  trouble,  the  dwelling  place  of 
all  generations  ;  who  changes  all  things,  and  is  him- 
self unchanged  !  And  independent  of  its  impiety, 
how  cruel  is  that  philosophy  which,  under  pre- 
tence of  superior  illumination,  by  depriving  us  of 
this  resource,  would  leave  us  exposed  to  the  tossings  * 
of  a  tempestuous  ocean,  without  compass,  without 
solace,  and  without  hope  ! 

But  besides  this  acknowledgment  of  the  general 
administration  of  the  Deity,  it  behoves  us  to  feel 
and  confess,  in  national  calamities,  the  tokens  of 
his  displeasure.  The  evils  which  overtake  nations 
are  tlie  just  judgments  of  the  Almighty.  I  am  per- 
fectly aware  of  the  disadvantages  under  which  we 
labour,  when  we  insist  on  this  topic,  from  its  being 
80  trite  and  familiar.  Instead  of  troubling  you 
with  a  general,  and  I  fear,  unavailing  descant  on 
the  manners  of  the  age,  I  shall  therefore  content 
myself  with  calling  your  attention  to  a  very  few  of 
what  appear  to  me  the  most  alarming  syiftptoms  of 
national  degeneracy.  Here  we  shall,  not  insist  so 
much  on  the  progress  of  infidelity  (though  much  to 

20 


151 

be  deplored)  as  on  an  evil  to  which,  if  we  are  not 
greatly  mistaken,  that  progress  is  chiefly  to  be  as- 
cribed :  I  mean  a  gradual  departure  from  the  pecu- 
liar truths,  maxims,  and  spirit  of  Christianity. 
Christianity,  issuing  perfect  and  entire  from  the 
hands  of  its  Author,  will  admit  of  no  mutilations 
nor  improvement :  it  stands  most  secure  on  its  own 
basis ;  and  without  being  indebted  to  foreign  aids, 
supports  itself  best  by  its  own  internal  vigour. 
When  under  the  pretence  of  simplifying  it,  we  at- 
tempt to  force  it  into  a  closer  alliance  with  the  most 
approved  systems  of  philosophy,  we  are  sure  to 
contract  its  bounds,  and  to  diminish  its  force  and 
authority  over  the  consciences  of  men.  It  is  dog- 
matic ;  not  capable  of  being  advanced  with  the 
progress  of  science,  but  fixed  and  immutable.  We 
may  not  be  able  to  perceive  the  use  or  necessity  of 
some  of  its  discoveries,  but  they  are  not  on  this 
account  the  less  binding  on  our  faith  :  just  as  there 
are  many  parts  of  nature,*  whose  purposes  we  are 

*  "  We  ought  not,"  says  the  great  Bacon,  '*  to  attempt  to  draw  down  or 
jubmit  the  mysteries  of  God  to  our  reason,  but  on  the  contrary,  to  raise 
and  advance  our  reason  to  the  divine  truth.  In  this  part  of  knowlcdg'c, 
touching  divine  philosophy,  1  am  so  far  from  noting  any  deficiency,  that 
I  rather  note  an  excess ;  whereto  I  have  digressed,  becraise  of  the  ex- 
treme prejudice,  which  both  religion  and  philosophy  have  received  from 
being  commixed  together,  as  that  which  undoubtedly  will  make  an  hereti- 
cal religion  and  a  fabulous  philosophy." 

This  observation  appears  to  me  to  deserve  the  most  profomid  medita- 
tion ;  and  kat  my  remarks  on  this  sulijcct  sliould  appear  presumptuous 
fi'om  so  inconsiderable  a  person,  I  thoug-ht  it  requisite  to  fortify  myself 
by  so  great  an  authority. 


i55 

at  a  loss  to  explore,  of  winch,  if  any  person  were 
bold  enough  to  arraign  the  propriety,  it  would  be 
sufficient  to  reply  that  God  made  them.  They  are 
both  equally  the  works  of  Grod  :  and  both  equally 
partake  of  the  mysteriousness  of  their  Author.  This 
integrity  of  the  christian  faith  has  been  insensibly 
impaired  ;  and  the  simplicity  of  mind  with  which 
it  should  be  embraced,  gradually  diminished.  While 
tlte  outworks  of  the  sanctuary  have  been  defended 
with  the  utmost  ability,  its  interior  has  been  too 
much  neglected,  and  the  fire  upon  the  altar  suffered 
to  languish  and  decay.  The  truths  and  mysteries 
which  distinguish  the  christian  from  all  other  reli- 
gions, have  been  little  attended  to  by  some,  totally 
denied  by  others  ;  and  while  infinite  efforts  have 
been  made  by  the  utmost  subtlety  of  argumentation, 
to  establish  the  truth  and  authenticity  of  revelation, 
few  have  been  exerted  in  comparison,  to  shew  what 
it  really  contains.'  The  consequence  has  been  such 
as  might  be  expected — an  increase  of  profaneness, 
immorality,  and  irrcligion. 

The  traces  of  piety  have  been  wearing  out  more 
and  more,  from  our  conversation,  from  our  manners, 
from  our  popular  publications,  from  the  current 
literature  of  the  age.  In  proportion  as  the  maxims 
and  spirit  of  Christianity  have  declined,  infidelity 
has  prevailed  in  their  room  :  for  infidelily  is,  in 
reality,   nothing  more   than  a  noxious  spawn  (par- 


156 

don  the  metaphor)  bred  in  the  stagnant  marshes  of 
Christianity. 

A  lax  theology  is  the  natural  parent  of  a  lax  mo- 
rality. The  peculiar  motives,  accordingly,  by 
which  the  inspired  writers  enforce  their  moral  les- 
sons, the  love  of  God  and  the  Redeemer,  concern 
for  the  honour  of  religion,  and  gratitude  for  the  in- 
estimable benefits  of  the  christian  redemption,  have 
no  place  in  the  fashionable  systems  of  moral  in- 
struction.* The  motives  almost  exclusively  urged 
are  such  as  take  their  rise  from  the  present  state, 
founded  on  reputation,  on  honour,  on  health,  or  on 
the  tendency  of  the  things  recommended  to  pro- 
mote, under  some  form  or  other,  the  acquisition  of 
worldly  advantages.  Thus  even  morality  itself, 
by  dissociating  it  from  "Veligion,  is  made  to  cherish 
the  love  of  the  world,  and  to  bar  the  heart  more 
effectually  against  the  approaches  of  piety. 

Here  I  cannot  forbear  remarking  a  great  change 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  whole  manner  of  reason- 
ing on  the  topics  of  morality  and  religion,  from  what 
prevailed  in  the  last  century,  and  as  far  as  my  infor- 
mation extends,  in  any  preceding  age.  This  whichis 
an  age  of  revolutions,  has  also  produced  a  strange  re- 

*  If  the  reader  wishes  for  a  further  statement  and  iUustratlon  of  these 
melancholy  facts,  he  may  find  it  in  Mr.  Wilberforce's  celebrated  Look  on 
religion,  a  work  which  has,  perhaps  done  more  than  any  other  to  rouse 
the  insensibility  and  augment  tlie  piety  of  the  aye. 


107 

volution  in  the  method  of  viewing  these  subjects,  tht 
most  important  by  far,  that  can  engage  the  attention 
of  man.     The  simplicity  of  our  ancestors,  nourished 
by  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  rather  than  by  the 
tenets  of  a  disputatious  philosophy,  were  content  to 
let  morality  remain  on  the  firm  basis  of  the  dictates 
of  conscience  and  the  will  of  God.     They  consider- 
ed virtue  as  an  ultimate  thing,  and  as  bounding  the 
mental  prospect.     They  never  supposed  for  a  mo- 
ment there  was  any  thing,  to  which  it  stood  merely 
in  the  relation  of  a  meansy  or  that  within  the  narrow 
confines  of  this   momentary  state,   any  thing  great 
enough  could  be  found  to  be  its  end  or  object.     It 
never  occurred  to  their  imagination,  that  that  reli- 
gion  wliieh  professes  to  render  us  superior  to  the 
world,  is  in  reality   nothing  more   than  an  instru- 
ment to  procure  the  temporal,  the  physical  good  of 
individuals  or  of  society.     In  their  view,  it  had  a 
nobler  scope  and  destination  :   it  looked  forward  to 
eternity  ;  and  if  ever  they  appear  to  have  assigned  it 
any  end  or  object  beyond  itself,  it  was  a  union  with  its 
author,  in  the  immortal  fruition  of  God.  They  arrang- 
ed these  things  in  the  following  order  :  Religion  com- 
prehending the  love,  fear,  and  service  of  the  Author 
of  our  being,  they   placed  first :    social  morality, 
founded  on  its  dictates,  confirmed  by  its  sanctions, 
next ;  and  the  more  physicial  good  of  society  they 
contemplated  as  subordinate  to  both.     Every  thing 
is  now  reversed.     The  pyramid  is  inverted  :  the  first 
is  last,  and  the  last  first.     Religion  is  degraded 


153 

from  its  pre-eminence,  into  the  mere  handmaid  of 
social  morality  ;  social  morality  into  an  instrument 
of  advancing  the  welfare  of  society  ;  and  the  world  is 
all  in  all.  Nor  have  we  deviated  less  from  the  ex- 
ample of  antiquity  than  from  that  of  our  pious  fore- 
fathers. The  philosophers  of  antiquity  in  the  ab- 
sence of  superior  light,  consulted  with  reverence 
the  permanent  principles  of  nature,  the  dictates  of 
conscience,  and  the  best  feelings  of  the  heart, 
which  they  employed  all  the  powers  of  reason  and 
eloquence  to  unfold,  to  adorn,  to  enforce;  and  there- 
by formed  aluminous  commentary  ok  ^/ie  law  writ- 
ten on  the  heart.  The  virtue  which  they  inculcat- 
ed, grew  out  of  the  stock  of  human  nature  :  it  was 
a  warm  and  living  virtue.  It  was  the  moral  man, 
possessing  in  every  limb  and  feature,  in  all  its 
figure  and  movements,  the  harmony,  dignity,  and 
variety,  which  belong  to  the  human  form :  it  was 
an  effort  of  unassisted  nature  to  restore  that  image 
of  God,  which  sin  had  mutilated  and  defaced.  Im- 
perfect, as  might  be  expected,  their  morality  was 
often  erroneous,  but  in  its  great  outlines  it  had  all 
the  stability  of  the  human  constitution,  and  its  fun- 
damental principles  were  coeval  and  coexistent  with 
human  nature.  There  could  be  nothing  fluctuating 
and  arbitrary  in  its  more  weighty  decisions,  since 
it  appealed  every  moment  to  the  man  within  the 
breast :  it  pretends  to  nothing  more,  than  to  give 
voice  and  articulation  to  the  inward  sentiments  of 
the  heart,  and  conscience  echoed   to  its  oraeleg. 


159 

This,  ^vrought  into  different  systems,  and  under 
various  modes  of  illufetration,  was  the  general  form 
which  morality  exhibited,  from  the  creation  of  the 
world  till  our  time.  In  this  state  revelation  found 
it;  and,  correcting  what  was  erroneous,  supplying 
what  was  defective,  and  confirming  what  was  right 
by  its  peculiar  sanctions,  superadded  a  number  of 
supernatural  truths  and  holy  mysteries.  How  is  it, 
that  on  a  subject  on  which  men  have  thought  deep- 
ly, from  the  moment  they  began  to  think,  and 
where,  consequently,  whatever  is  entirely  and  fun- 
damentally new,  must  be  fundamentally  false  ;  how 
is  it,  that  in  contempt  of  the  experience  of  past  ages, 
and  of  all  precedents  human  and  divine,  we  have 
ventured  into  a  path  which  no  eye  had  explored, 
no  foot  had  trod,  and  have  undertaken,  after  the 
lapse  of  six  thousand  years,  to  manufacture  a  mo- 
rality of  our  own,  to  decide  by  a  cold  calculation  of 
interest,  by  a  ledger-book  of  profit  and  of  loss,  the 
preference  of  truth  to  falsehood,  of  piety  to  blas- 
phemy, and  of  humanity  and  justice  to  treachery 
*nd  blood  ? 

In  the  science  of  morals,  We  are  taught  by  this 
system  to  consider  nothing  as  yet  done  ;  we  are  in- 
vited to  erect  a  fresh  fabric  on  a  fr^^sh  foundation. 
All  the  eliments  and  sentiments  which  entered  into 
the  essence  of  virtue  before,  are  melted  down,  and 
cast  into  a  new  mould.  Instead  of  appejiling  to 
any  internal  principle,  every  thing  is  left  to  calcu- 


160 

lation,  and  determined  by  expediency.     In  cxecnt- 
ing  this  plan,  the  jurisdiction  of  conscience  is  abol- 
ished;  her  decisions  are  classed  with  those  of  a  su- 
perannuated judge,  and  the  determination  of  moral 
causes   is  adjourned  from  the  interior  tribunal  to 
the    noisy   forum  of    speculative   debate.     Every 
thing,  without  exception,   is  made  an  affair  of  cal- 
culation ;     under   which    are    comprehended,    not 
merely   the  duties  we  owe  to  our  fellow-creatures, 
but  even  the  love  and  adoration  w  hich  the  Supreme 
being  claims   at  our  hands.     His   claims  are   set 
aside,  or  suffered  to  lie  in  abeyance,  until  it  can  be 
determined  how  far  they  can  be  admitted   on  the 
principles  of  expedience,  and  in  what  respect  they 
may  interfere  with  the  acquisition  of  temporal  ad- 
vantages.    Even  here,  nothing  is  yielded  to  the 
suggestions  of  conscience,    nothing,  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  heart.     All  is  dealt  out  with  a  sparing 
hand,   under  the  stint  and  measure  of  calculation. 
Instead  of  being  allowed  to  love  God  with  all  our 
heart,  and  all  our  strength,  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment,   the  portion  of    love  assigned  him  is 
weighed  out  with  the  utmost  scrupulosity,  and  the 
supposed  excess  more  severely  censured  than  th« 
real  deficiency. 

Thus,  by  a  strange  inversion,  the  indirect  influ- 
ence  of  Christianity,  in  promoting  the  temporal 
good  of  mankind,  is  mistaken  for  its  pr'incipal  end  ; 
the  skirts  of   her  robe    are  confounded  with    her 


161 

body,  and  tbe  foicer  of  the  world  to  come,  instead 
of  raisins^  our  thoughts  and  contemplations  from 
earth  to  heaven,  from  the  creature  to  the  Creator, 
are  made  solely  subservient  to  the  advancement 
of  secular  intt*rests  and  passions.  How  these  sen- 
timents accord  with  the  dictates  of  inspiration,  the 
most  unlettered  christian  may  easily  decide.  Love 
not  the  tcorld,  said  the  disciple  who  leaned  on  the 
breast  of  his  Lord,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the 
world  ;  for  if  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the 
Father  is  not  in  him.  And  the  world  passeth  aicay, 
and  the  lusts  thereof;  hut  he  that  doeth  the  will  of 
God  abidethfor  ever.  Such  was  the  idea  entertained 
by  an  inspired  apostle  of  christian  virtue.  Let  us 
now  turn  to  the  modern  philosopher.  Virtue,  he 
will  inform  us,  (including  the  whole  sum  of  our  du- 
ties) is  merely  an  expedient  for  promoting  the  in- 
terests and  advantages  of  the  present  world,  of  that 
very  world,  that  is,  which,  in  the  eyes  of  John,  was 
passing  away,  and  whose  value  he  so  solemnly  de- 
preciates. What  admirable  consistency  !  what  ele- 
vated theology  !  If  we  can  suppose  this  holy  apos- 
tle acquainted  with  what  passes  on  earth,  what  sat- 
isfaction it  must  afford  his  gloriiied  spirit,  to  find 
bis  sentiments  so  well  understood,  and  so  faithfully 
interpreted. 

In  former  times  it  was  supposed,  one  of  the  most 
effectual  means  of  improvement  in  virtue  was,  the 
moral  culture  of  the  heart :  to  keep  it  with  all  dili- 

31 


16S 


gence,  because  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life,  was 
thought  an  advice  deserving  the  most  serious  atten- 
tion. To  examine  frequently  the  state  of  the  con- 
science, and  to  check  the  first  risings  of  disorder 
there,  was  judged  to  be  of  the  last  importance. 

It  is  easy  to  see  how  this  moral  discipline  must 
fare  under  the  doctrine  of  expediency,  a  doctrine 
which  teaches  man  to  be  looking  continually  abroad  ; 
a  doctrine  which  not  only  justifies,  but  enjoins,  a  dis- 
trust  of  the  suggestions  of  the  inward  monitor ; 
which  will  not  permit  the  best  feelings  of  the  heart, 
its  clearest  dictates,  its  finest  emotions,  to  have  the 
smallest  influence  over  the  conduct ;  and  instead  of 
yielding  any  thing  to  their  direction,  cites  them  at 
its  bar. 

As  this  fashion  of  reducing  every  moral  question 
to  a  calculation  of  expedience  is  a  most  important 
innovation,  it  would  be  strange  if  it  had  not  produ- 
ced  a  change  in  the  manners  of  society.  In  fact,  it 
has  produced  an  entirely  new  cast  of  character, 
equally  remote  from  the  licentious  gaiety  of  high 
life,  and  the  low  profligacy  which  falls  under  the 
lash  of  the  law  ;  a  race  of  men  distinguished  by  a 
calm  and  terrible  ferocity,  resembling  Csesar  in  this 
only,  that  as  it  was  said  of  him,  they  have  come 
with  sobriety  to  the  ruin  of  their  country.  The 
greatest  crimes  no  longer  issue  from  the  strongest 
passions,  but  from  the  coolest  head.     Vice  and  ira- 


163 

piety  have  made  a  new  conquest,  and  have  added 
the  regions  of  speculation  to  their  dominion.  The 
patrons  of  impurity  and  licentiousness  have  put  on 
the  cloak  of  the  philosopher  :  maxims  the  most  li- 
centious have  found  their  way  into  hooks  of  pretend- 
ed morality,  and  have  heen  inculcated  with  the  airs 
of  a  moral  sage.*  The  new  doctrine  having  with- 
drawn the  attention  from  all  internal  sentiments,  as 
well  as  destroyed  their  authority',  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong  was  easily  lost  sight  of ;  the  boun- 
daries of  vice  and  virtue  confounded,  and  the  whole 
substance  of  morals  fell  a  prey  to  contending  dispu- 
tants. Nor  is  this  the  only  or  the  worst  conse- 
quejice  which  has  followed,  A  callous  indifference 
to  all  moral  distinctions  is  an  almost  inseparable  ef- 
fect of  the  familiar  application  of  this  theory.  Vir- 
tue is  no  longer  contemplated  as  the  object  of  any 
particular  sentiment  or  feelings  but  solely  with  re- 
gard to  its  effects  on  society  :  it  is  what  it  produced. 
not  what  it  is,  that  is  alone  considered,  just  as  an 
accountant  is  indifferent  to  the  shape  and  appear- 
ance of  the  figures,  and  attends  simply  to  their 
amount.  Crimes  and  virtues  arc  equally  candidates 
for  approbation,  nor  must  the  heart  betray  the  least 
preference,  which  would  be  to  prejudge  the  cause  ; 
but  must  maintain  a  sacred  neutrality,  till  expedi- 
ence, whose  hand  never  trembles  in  the  midst  of 
the  greatest  horrors,  has  weighed  in  her  impartial 
balance  their   consequences   and    effects.      In  the 

"  The  unholy  speculations  of  Godwin  were  founded  rnUroly  on  thif,  b-fsit. 


164 

mean  time,   they  are  equally  candidates,  we  repeat 
it  again,    for  our  approbation,  and  equally  entitled 
to  it,  providing  the  passions  can  be  deceived  into  an 
opinion,  and  this  is  not  difficult,  that  they  will  come 
to  tlie  same  thing  at  the  foot  of  the  account.     Hence 
that  intrepidity  in  guilt,  which  has  cased  the  hearts 
of  the  greatest  adepts  in  this  system,  as  with  triple 
brass.     Its  seeds  were  sown  by  some  of  these  with 
an  unsparing  hand,    in  France,    a  congenial  soilj 
where  they  produced  a  quick  vegetation.     The  con- 
sequences were  soon   felt.     The  fabric  of  society 
tottered   to  its  base  ;   the  earth   shook  under  their 
feet,  the  heavens  were  involved  in  darkness,  and  a 
Yoice  more  audible  than  thunder  called  npon  them 
to    desist.      But,   unmoved  amidst   the  uproar  of 
elements,  undismayed  by  that  voice  which  astonish- 
es nature  and  appals  the  guilty,  these  men  continued 
absorbed  in  their  calculation.     Instead  of  revering 
the  judgments,  or  confessing  the  finger  of  God,  they 
only  made  more  haste  (still  on  the  principle  of  ex- 
pediency.)  to  desolate  his  works,  and  destroy  his 
image,  as  if  they  were  apprehensive  the  shades  of  a 
premature  night  might  fall  and  cover  their  victims. 

But  it  is  time  to  conclude  tliis  discussion,  which 
has,  perhaps,  already  fatigued  by  its  length.  I  can- 
not help  expressing  my  apprehension,  that  this  de- 
secration of  virtue,  this  incessant  domination  of  phy- 
sical over  moral  ideas,  of  ideas  of  expedience  over 
those  of  right;  having  already  dethroned  religion,  and 


169 

displaced  virtue  from  her  ancient  basis,  will,  if  it  is 
suffered  to  proceed,  ere  long  shake  tlie  foundation 
of  states,  and  endanger  the  existence  of  the  civilized 
world.  Should  it  ever  become  popular;  should  it 
ever  descend  from  speculation  into  common  life,  and 
become  the  practical  morality  of  the  age,  we  may 
apply  to  sucli  a  period  the  awful  words  of  Balaam  ; 
Who  shall  live  when  God  doth  this  ?  No  imagina- 
tion can  pourtray,  no  mind  can  grasp  its  horrors  ; 
nor  when  tlie  angel  in  the  Apocalypse,  to  whom  the 
keys  are  entrusted,  shall  be  commissioned  to  open 
the  bottomless  pit,  will  it  send  forth  a  thicker  cloud 
of  pestilential  vapour.  If  the  apparent  simplicity 
of  this  system  be  alleged  in  its  favour,  I  would  say, 
it  is  the  simplicity  of  meanness  ;  it  is  a  simplicity 
which  is  its  shame ;  a  day-light  whicli  reveals  its 
beggary.  If  au  air  of  obscurity,  on  the  contrary,  is 
'  objected  against  that  of  better  times,  let  it  be  remem^ 
bered  that  every  science  has  its  ultimate  questionSf 
boundaries  which  cannot  be  passed,  and  that  if  these 
occur  earlier  in  morals  than  in  other  inquiries,  it  is 
the  natural  result  of  the  immensity  of  the  sui)ject, 
which,  touching  human  nature  in  every  point,  sur- 
rounding it  on  all  sides,  renders  it  difficult,  or  rath- 
er impossible,  to  trace  it  in  all  its  relations,  and 
view  it  in  all  its  extent.  Meanwhile,  the  shades 
which  envelope,  and  will,  perhaps,  always  envelope 
it  in  some  measure,  are  not  without  their  use,  since 
they  teach  the  two  most  important  lessons  we  can 
learn — the  vanity  of  our  reason,  txi'A   the  grandeur 


166 

of  our  destiny.  It  is  not  improbable  some  may  be 
offended  at  the  M'armth  and  freedom  which  accom- 
pany  these  remarks  :  my  apology,  however,  rests  on 
the  infinite  importance  of  the  subject,  my  extreme 
solicitude  to  impress  what  appear  to  me  right  sen- 
timents respecting  it,  together  with  the  considera- 
tion, that  the  confidence  which  ill  becomes  the  in- 
novators of  yesterday,  however  able,  may  be  par- 
doned in  the  defenders,  however  weak,  of  a  system 
which  has  stood  tlie  test  and  sustained  the  virtue  of 
two  thousand   years.*     Let  us  return,  then,  to  the 

*  The  system  which  founds  morality  on  utility,  an  utility,  let  it  be 
•  ahvays  remembered,  confined  to  the  purposes  'of  the  present  world, 
issued  with  ill  omen  from  the  school  of  infidelity.  It  was  first  broached, 
I  believe,  certainly  first  brought  into  general  notice,  by  Mr.  Hume,  in 
his  Treatise  on  Morals,  which  he  himself  pronounced  incomparably  the 
best  he  ever  wrote.  It  was  incomparably  the  best  for  his  purpose  ;  nor 
is  it  easy  to  imagine  a  mind  so  acute  as  his  did  not  see  the  effect  it  would 
have  in  setting  morality  and  religion  afloat:  and  substituting  for  the 
stability  of  principle  the  looseness  of  specuhttion  and  opinion.  It  h.is 
since  been  rendered  popular  by  a  succession,  of  eminent  writers  ;  by  one 
especially  (I  doubt  not  with  intentions  very  foreign  from  those  of  Mr. 
Hume)  whose  great  services  te  religion  in  other  respects,  tog'cthcr  with 
m}'  high  reverence  for  his  talents,  prevent  me  from  naming.  This  vene- 
rable author,  it  is  probable,  little  suspected  to  what  lengths  the  principle 
would  be  carried,  or  to  wliat  purposes  it  woul4  be  applied  in  other  hands. 
Had  he  foreseen  this,  I  cannot  but  imagine  he  v.  ould  have  spared  this 
part  of  his  acute  speculations. 

We  have  happily,  preserved  to  us  two  complete  Treatises  on  Morals, 
in  which  the  authors  professed  to  give  us  a  complete  view  of  our  duties  ; 
the  one  composed  by  the  greatest  master  of  reason,  the  other  of  elo- 
quence, the  world  ever  saw.  The  fii-st  of  these  has  distinguished,  clas- 
sified and  arranged  the  elements  of  social  nwrality,  which  is  all  he  could 
reacli  in  the  absence  of  revelation,  with  that  acuteness,  subtilt)',  and  pre- 


167 

safe  and  sober  paths  of  our  aaccfstors  ;  adhering,  in 
all  moral  questions,  to  the  dictates  of  conscience, 
regulated  and  informed  by  the  divine  word ;  happy 
to  enjoy,  instead  of  sparks  of  our  own  kindling,  the 
benefit  of  those  luminaries  \vhieh,  placed  in  the  mor- 

cision,  for  which  he  was  so  eminently  distlnguislied.  AVhocver  atten- 
tively peruses  his  Treatise,  on  the  Nicomachian  Monils  I  mean,  will  find 
a  perpetual  reference  to  the  inward  sentiments  of  tlie  breast.  He  builds 
every  thing  on  ihc  human  constitution.  He  all  along  takes  it  for  granted, 
that  tlicre  is  a  proud  impress  on  tl\e  mind,  to  which,  without  looking 
abroad,  we  may  safcl)"  appeal.  In  a  word,  Aristotle  never  lost  the  moral- 
ist in  tl\e  accountant.  He  ha.s  been  styled  the  Interpreter  of  Nature,  and 
has  certainly  shown  himself  a  most  able  commentator  on  the  laxc  ivrltten 
on  the  heart.  For  Cicero,  in  all  l>is  philosophical  works,  as  well  as  in 
his  offices,  where  he  treats  more  directly  on  these  subjects,  he  shows  the 
most  extreme  solicitude,  as  though  he  had  a  prophetic  glance  of  what 
was  to  happen,  to  keep  the  irtoral  and  natural  world  apart,  to  assert  the 
supremacy  of  virtue,  and  to  recognize  those  sentiments  and  vestige;* 
from  which  he  educes,  witli  the  utmost  elevation,  the  contempt  of  human 
things.  How  humiliating  the  consideration !  that  witli  such  superior  advan- 
tages, our  moral  systems  should  be  infinitely  surpassed  in  warmth  and 
grandeur  bj'  those  of  Pagan  times,  and  that  the  most  jejune  and  comfort- 
less that  ever  entered  tlie  mind  of  man,  and  tlie  most  abhorrent  from  the 
spirit  of  religion,  should  have  ever  become  popular  in  a  christian  coun- 
try. This  departure  from  the  precedents  of  antiquity,  will  not,  by  those 
that  are  capable  of  forming  a  judgment,  be  easily  imputed  to  the  supe- 
riority of  our  talents ;  it  is  rather  the  result  of  that  ten<lcncy  to  degva- 
dation  which  has  long  marked  our  progress.  Along  with  the  simplicity 
of  faith  and  h  reverence  for  the  Scriptures,  our  resjicct  for  the  dignity 
(rightly  understood)  of  human  nature,  and  tenderness  for  its  best  inter- 
ests, have  been  gradually  impaired.  A  fearlessness  of  consequences,  a 
hardihood  of  mind,  a  disposition  to  sacrifice  every  thing  to  originality, 
or  to  a  pi-etcnded  philosophical  precision,  have  succcedetl  in  their 
place.  This,  in  my  humble  opinion,  lias  been  the  great  bane  of  modern 
speculation,  and  has  rendered  so  much  of  it  wild,  ferocious,  and  de- 
structive. 


168 

al  firraamont  by  a  parent  hand,  have  guided  the 
church  from  the  beginning,  in  her  mysterious  so- 
journ to  eternity.  Stand  in  the  way,  and  see,  and 
ask  for  the  old  path,  which  is  the  good  icay^  and 
walk  therein,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls. 

Instead  of  demolishing  the  temple  of  christian  vir- 
tue, from  a  presumptuous  curiosity  to  inspect  its 
foundations,  let  us  rejoice  they  are  laid  too  deep  for 
our  scrutiny.  Let  us  worship  in  it ;  and  along  w'lih 
the  nations  of  them  that  are  saved,  walk  in  its  light. 

Having  endeavoured  to  point  out  the  source  of 
our  degeneracy,  in  a  departure  from  the  doctrines 
and  spirit  of  Christianity,  I  hasten  to  dispatch  the 
remainder  of  this  discourse ;  nor  will  it  detain  you 
long. 

Whoever  has  paid  attention  to  the  manners  of  the 
day,  must  have  perceived  a  remarkable  innovation 
in  the  use  of  moral  terms,  in  which  we  have  receded 
more  and  more  from  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Of 
this,  the  term  employed  to  denote  a  lofty  sentiment 
of  personal  superiority  supplies  an  obvious  instance. 
In  the  current  language  of  the  times,  pride  is  scarce- 
ly ever  used  but  in  a  favourable  sense.  It  will, 
perhaps,  be  thought  the  mere  change  of  a  term  is  of 
little  consequence  ;  but  be  it  remembered,  that  any 
remarkable  innovation  in  the  use  of  moral  terms,  be- 
trays a  proportionable  change  in  the  ideas  and  feel- 


169 

iugs  they  are  intended  to  denote.  As  pride  has 
been  transferred  from  the  list  of  vices  to  that  of  vir- 
tues, so  humility,  as  a  natural  consequence,  has 
been  excluded,  and  is  rarely  suffered  to  enter  into 
the  praise  of  a  character  we  wish  to  commend,  al- 
though it  was  the  leading  feature  in  that  of  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  and  is  still  the  leading  charac- 
teristic of  his  religion.  There  is  no  vice,  on  the 
contrary,  against  which  the  divine  denunciations 
are  so  frequent  as  pride.  Our  conduct,  in  this  in- 
stance, is  certainly  rather  extraordinary,  both  in 
what  we  have  embraced,  and  in  what  we  have  re- 
jected :  and  it  will  surely  be  confessed,  we  are 
somewhat  unfortunate,  in  having  selected  that 
vice  as  the  particular  object  of  approbation,  which 
God  had  already  selected  as  the  especial  mark  at 
which  he  aims  the  thunderbolts  of  his  vengeance. 

Another  symptom  of  degeneracy  appears  in  th« 
growing  disregard  to  the  external  duties  of  religion; 
the  duties  more  especially  of  the  Lord's  day  and  of 
public  worship.  It  is  supposed  by  such  as  have  the 
best  means  of  information,  that  throughout  the  king- 
dom, the  number  who  regularly  assemble  for  wor- 
ship is  far  inferior  to  those  who  neglect  it ;  that  in 
our  great. towns  and  cities  they  are  not  one-fourth 
of  the  people,  and  in  the  metropolis  a  much  smaller 
proportion.  It  is  easy  to  fore-see  how  the  leisure 
afforded  by  the  christian  Sabbath  will  be  employed 
by  those  who  utterly  forget  the  design  of  its  institu- 

S3 


170 

tion.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  here  the  ex- 
tremes meet,  and  that  the  public  duties  of  religion 
are  most  slighted  by  the  highest  and  the  lowest  clas- 
ses of  society ;  by  the  former,  1  fear,  from  indolence 
and  pride;  by  the  latter,  from  ignorance  and  profli- 
gacy. 

Too  many  of  the  first  description,  when  they  do 
attend,  it  is  in  such  a  manner  as  makes  it  evident 
they  esteem  it  merely  an  act  of  condeseensiotj,  to 
which  they  submit  as  an  example  to  their  inferiors, 
who,  penetrating  the  design,  and  imitating  their 
indilft'rence  rather  than  their  dovotion,  are  disgust- 
ed with  a  religion  which  they  perceive  has  no  hold 
on  their  superiors,  and  is  only  imposed  upon  them- 
selves as  a  badge  of  inferiority  and  a  muzzle  of  re- 
straint. Could  the  rich  and  noble  be  prevailed 
upun  for  a  momont  to  attend  to  the  instructions  of 
their  Lord,  instead  of  making  their  elevated  rank  a 
reason  for  neglecting  these  duties,  they  would  learn 
that  tliere  are  none  to  whom  they  are  so  necessary, 
since  there  are  none  whose  situation  is  to  perilous, 
wliose  responsibility  is  so  great,  and  whose  salva- 
tion is  so  arduous. 

Here  fidelity  compels  me  to  advert  to  a  circum- 
stance, which  I  mention  with  sincere  reluctance, 
because  it  implies  something  like  a  censure  on  the 
conduct  of  those  wiiom  it  is  our  duty  to  respect. 
You  are,  probably,   aware  I  mean  the  assigning 


171 

part  of  the  Sunday  to  military  exercises.  "When 
we  consider  how  important  an  institution  the  chris- 
tian Sabhath  is,  how  essential  to  the  maintenance 
of  pnhlic  worship,  which  is  itself  essential  to  reli- 
fijion,  and  what  a  barrier  it  opposes  to  the  impiety 
and  immorality  of  the  age,  is  it  not  to  be  lamented 
that  it  should  ever  have  been,  in  the  ,smallest  de- 
gree, infringed  by  legislative  authority  ?  The  rest 
of  the  Sabbath  had  been  already  too  much  violated, 
its  duties  too  much  neglected  ;  but  this  is  the  first 
instance  of  the  violation  of  it  being  publicly  recom- 
mended  and  enjoined  ;*  at  a  time  too,  when  we  are 
engaged  with  an  enemy,  whose  very  name  conveys 
a  warning  against  impiety.  Our  places  of  worship 
have  been  thinned  by  the  absense  of  those  who 
have  been  employed  in  military  evolutions,  and  of 
a  still  greater  number  of  gazers,  whom  such  spec- 
tacles attract.  Nor  is  the  time  lost  from  religious 
duties  so  much  to  be  considered,  as  that  tumult  and 
hurry  of  mind,  utterly  incompatible  with  devotion, 
which  are  inseparable  from  military  ideas  and  pre- 
parations. It  could  surely  never  be  the  intention 
of  the  legislature,  though  such  has  been  the  effect, 
to  detach  the  defenders  of  their  country  from  the 
worshippers  of  God  :  nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  they 
adverted  to  the  iniluenee  which  a  precedent  of  such 
high  authority  must  have,  in  divesting  the  Sabbath 
of  its  sanctity  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  of  es- 

*  The  book  of  Sports  in  Cliurles  tlie  Second's  i^iifn,  is  not  an  excep' 
lion,  as  this,  lhoii;^h  sufficiently  censurable,  was  not  considered  as  a  vio- 
lation of  tlie  n-st  of  the  Sabb^ih, 


17S 

tablisliiug  the  fatal  epoch,  whence  it  was  no  longer 
to  be  revered  as  the  ordinance  of  heaven.  They 
had,  we  will  believe,  no  such  intention  ;  but  the  in- 
nocence of  the  intention  abates  nothing  of  the  mis- 
chief  of  the  precedent. 

As  it  is  foreign  from  my  purpose  to  make  a  com- 
plete enumeration  of  national  sins,  which  would 
not  only  be  a  most  painful  task  in  itself,  but  quite 
incompatible  with  the  limits  of  this  discourse,  I 
shall  content  myself  with  the  mention  of  one  more 
proof  of  the  degeneracy  of  our  manners.  This 
proof  is  found  in  that  almost  universal  profaneness 
which  taints  our  daily  intercourse,  and  which  has 
risen  to  such  a  height  as  to  have  become  a  melan- 
choly characteristic  of  our  country.  In  no  nation 
under  heaven,  probably,  has  the  profanation  of  sa- 
cred terms  been  so  prevalent  as  in  this  christian  land. 
The  name  even  of  the  Supreme  Being  himself,  and 
the  words  he  has  employed  to  denounce  the  punish- 
ment of  the  impenitent,  are  rarely  mentioned  but  in 
anger  or  in  sport ;  so  that  were  a  stranger  to  our 
history  to  witness  the  style  of  our  conversation,  hs 
would  naturally  infer  we  considered  religion  as  a 
detected  imposture,  and  that  nothing  more  remained 
than,  in  return  for  the  fears  it  had  inspired,  to  treat 
it  with  the  insult  and  derision  due  to  a  fallen  tyrant. 
To  view  this  practice  in  the  most  favourable  light, 
it  indicates,  as  has  been  observed  by  a  great  writer,* 

*  Dr.  Faley. 


173 

'^  a  mind  over  which  religious  considerations  have 
little  influence."  It  also  sufficiently  accounts  for 
that  propensity  to  ridicule  piety,  which  is  one  of  our 
national  peculiarities.  It  would  be  unfair  to  sup- 
pose, that  at  the  best  times  there  was  ever  more  piety 
on  the  continent  than  here :  be  this  as  it  may,  it 
never  appears  to  have  exposed  its  possessors  to 
contempt;  nor  was  the  sublime  devotion  of  Fene- 
lon  and  of  Pascal  ever  considered  as  forming  a 
shade  to  their  genius — the  reverence  for  religion 
had  not  been  worn  away  by  the  f:i!niliar  abuse  of  its 
peculiar  terms. 

It  will  be  expected  something  should  be  said  on 
the  slave-trade.  Its  enormity  no  words  can  ex- 
press. But  here  we  must  feel  a  mixture  of  satis- 
tion  and  regret ;  of  satisfaction,  at  finding  it  has 
excited  such  general  indignation  among  the  people  ; 
of  regret,  that  notwithstanding  this, it  should  still  be 
continued.  By  the  most  earnest  and  unanimous 
remonstrances,  addressed  to  those  who  alone  could 
abolish  it,  the  people  have  purged  themselves  from 
this  contamination.  Their  application  was  unsuc- 
cessful. The  guilt  and  turpitude  of  this  traffic  now 
rests  on  the  heads  of  those  who  sanction,  and  of 
those  who  conduct  it.  From  some  recent  events  in 
the  western  colonies,  it  seems  not  uuliitely  tiie 
Deity  is  about  to  take  this  affair  into  his  own 
hands,  and  to  accomplish  by  his  interposition  what 
has  been  denied  to  the  prayer  of  the  nation. 


174; 

It  is  far  from  being  a  pleasing  employ  ;  it  is  pain- 
ful, it  is  distressing  to  dwell  on  such  topics  ;  but  it 
is  necessary.  Our  disease  has  gone  too  far  to  ad. 
mit  of  palliatives;  our  wounds  are  too  t^ep  to  be 
healed,  till  they  are  searched  and  probed  to  the 
bottom.  The  only  safe  expedient  which  remains 
to  be  adopted,  is  an  immediate  return  to  God  ;  to 
forsake  every  one  his  evil  way,  and  the  violence  that 
is  in  his  hands,  and  cry  mightily  to  him  :  and  ivho 
can  tell,  if  God  ivill  turn  and  repent,  and  turn 
away  his  fierce  anger  from  us.  At  the  same  time 
let  it  be  remembered,  that  repentance  is  a  personal 
concern.  Instead  of  losing  ourselves  in  a  crowd, 
and  resting  in  general  confessions,  we  oug})-t  each 
one  to  examine  his  own  ways  and  turn  from  his  own 
iniquity.  We  shall  not  fail,  if  we  have  a  spark  of 
piety,  to  lament  the  prevalence  of  sin  around  us, 
but  we  can  repent  only  of  our  own  :  and  how  ever 
in  the  present  mixed  and  imperfect  state,  we  may 
share  in  the  judgments  and  calamities  which  other 
men's  sins  draw  down,  it  is  those  w^e  commit  our- 
selves which  alone  can  do  us  ultimate  injury.  Our 
continuance  here  is  but  for  a  short  time,  after 
whiei),  as  many  as  are  purified  and  made  white, 
will  remove  into  another  world,  be  placed  under 
a  higher  economy,  and  be  put  in  possession  ofaking- 
dom  that  cannot  he  moved.  We  need  be  under  no 
apprehension,  lest  the  cherishing  the  sentiments  we 
have  recommended  should  lead   to   despondency. 


175 

We  have  an  Higli  Priest,  who  through  the  Eternal 
Spirit  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God.  In  the 
midst  of  the  deepest  humiliation,  we  are  invited  to 
look  up  to  him,  with  a  humble  reliance  on  the  effica- 
cy of  his  blood,  which  cleanses  from  all  sin,  and  to 
entrust  our  prayers  and  our  duties,  disordered  and 
imperfect  at  best,  into  his  hands,  that  he  may  min- 
gle them  with  the  incense  of  his  intercession,  and 
present  them  with  acceptance  before  God. 

As  a  people,  the  most  certain  means  of  ensuring 
lasting  prosperity,  and  of  enabling  us  to  transmit, 
unimpaired  to  those  who  shall  succeed  us,  the  rich 
inheritance  devolved  from  our  ancestors,  will  be  a 
speedy  return  to  the  spirit  and  practice  of  the  Gos- 
pel. We  shall  ill  consult  the  true  interests  of  rev- 
elation by  disguising  its  peculiarities,  in  hope  of 
conciliating  the  approbation  of  infidels,  and  of 
adapting  it  more  to  their  taste — a  mistaken  and  dan- 
gerous policy,  by  which  we  run  imminent  risque  of 
catching  their  contagion,  without  imparting  the 
benefit  of  its  truths.  Let  us  not  for  a  moment 
blench  from  its  mysteries:  they  are  mysteries  of 
godliness;  and  however  much  they  may  surpass 
human  reason,  bear  the  distinct  impress  of  a  divine 
hand.  We  rejoice  that  they  are  mysterious,  so  far 
from  being  ashamed  of  them  on  that  account;  since 
the  principal  reason  why  they  are,  and  must  ever 
continue  such;  is  derived  from  their  elevation,  from 
their  unsearchable  riches,  and  undefinable  gran- 


176 

deur.  Ill  fine,  let  us  draw  our  religion  and  morality 
entirely  from  the  word  of  God,  without  seeking  any 
deeper  foundation  for  our  duties  than  the  ivill  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  an  implicit  and  perfect  acquies- 
cence in  which  is  the  highest  virtue  a  creature  can 
attain. 

Amidst  many  unfavourable  symptoms  of  the  state 
of  morals  amongst  us,  there  are  others  of  a  contrary 
nature.  We  may  hope,  infidelity  has  nearly  run 
its  length.  In  truth,  its  sophistry,  in  the  eyes  of 
men  of  sense,  has  been  much  discredited  by  the  ab- 
surdity of  its  tenets  ;  and  if  any  have  been  in  dan- 
ger of  being  seduced  by  the  talents  of  its  advocates, 
they  have  commonly  found  a  sufficient  antidote  in 
their  lives. — We  have  learned  to  prize  revelation 
more  than  ever,  since  we  have  seen  the  ludicrous 
mistakes,  as  well  as  serious  disasters,  of  those  mys- 
tics of  impiety,  who  choose  rather  to  walk  by  an  in- 
ternal  light,  than  enjoy  the  benefit  of  its  illumina- 
tion.  They  have  edified  us  much,  without  intend- 
ing  it :  they  have  had  the  effect  which  critics  assign 
as  the  purpose  of  the  tragic  muse,*  that  of  purify- 
ing  the  heart  by  pity  and  terror.  Their  zeal  has 
excited  an  equal  degree  of  ardour  in  a  better  cause, 
and  their  efforts  to  extirpate  religion  have  been  op- 
posed by  contrary  efforts,  to  diffuse  its  influence,  at 

•  Tfw  allmion  tx,  the  tragic  musk,  should  have  been  marked  as  a  quota- 
tion,  though  the  author  knows  not  with  certainty  to  irhom  to  ascribe  it.  He 
Relieves  it  fell  from  t-he  elegant  pen  of  an  illustrious  female,  Mrs.  Moore. 


liome  and  abroad,  to  a  degree  unexampled  in  mo- 
dern times.  A  growing  unanimity  has  prevailed 
among  the  good  in  different  parties,  who  finding  a 
centreof  union  in  the  great  truths  of  revelation,  and 
in  a  solicitude  for  its  interests,  are  willing  to  merge 
their  smaller  differences  in  a  common  cause.  The 
number  of  the  sincerely  pious,  we  trust,  is  increas- 
ing among  us,  whose  zeal,  so  far  from  suffering 
abatement  from  the  confidence  of  infidelity,  has 
glowed  with  a  purer  and  more  steady  flame  than 
ever.  These  are  pleasing  indications  that  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Holy  One  uf  Israel  is  still  in  t!ie  midst 
of  us. 

How  it  may  please  the  Ruler  of  the  universe  to 
dispose  the  destinies  of  the  two  most  powerful  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  which  are  at  this  moment  laid 
in  the  balance,  it  is  impossible  for  us  with  certainty  ' 
to  say. — But  when  we  consider  how  many  of  his 
sincere  worshippers,  how  large  a  portion  of  his 
cliurch,  together  with  how  rich  a  fund  of  wisdom, 
of  talents,  and  of  all  those  elements  of  social  order 
which  he  must  approve,  are  inclosed  within  the 
limits  of  this  highly-favoured  land,  we  cannot  be- 
lieve lie  intends  to  give  it  up  a  prey  to  its  enemies. 
Our  insular  situation  is  favourable,  our  resources 
prodigious,  and  the  preparations  which  have  long 
been  making,  apparently  every  way  equal  to  the 
danger  of  the  crisis  ;  but  still  we  would  place  our 
ultimate  reliance  on   Him   who  abases  the  proud, 

S3 


178 

and  exalts  the  lowly.  It  would  be  presumption  to 
imagine  it  in  my  power  to  add  any  thing  to  those 
considerations,  which  have  already  produced  such 
a  general  movement  in  defence  of  our  liberties. 
The  cause  speaks  for  itself:  it  excites  feelings 
which  words  are  ill  able  to  express  ;  involving^ 
every  object  and  motive  which  can  engage  the  so- 
licitude, affect  the  interests,  or  influence  the  heart 
of  man.  After  a  series  of  provocations  and  injuries, 
reciprocally  sustained  and  retaliated,  the  dispute 
betwixt  us  and  our  enemies  is  brought  to  a  short  is- 
sue  :  it  is  no  longer  which  of  the  two  nations  shall 
have  the  ascendant,  but  which  shall  continue  a  na- 
tion :  it  is  a  struggle  for  existence,  not  for  empire.  It 
must  surely  be  regarded  as  a  happy  circumstance, 
that  the  contest  did  not  take  this  shape  at  an  earlier  pe- 
riod, while  many  were  deceived  by  certain  specious 
pretences  of  liberty  into  a  favourable  opinion  of  our 
enemies'  designs.  The  popular  delusion  is  past ;  the 
most  unexampled  prodigies  of  guilt  have  dispelled  it : 
and,  after  a  series  of  rapine  and  cruelty,  have  torn 
from  every  heart  the  last  fibres  of  mistaken  partial- 
ity. The  crimes  of  those  with  whom  we  have  to 
contend,  are  legible  in  every  part  of  Europe. 
There  is  scarcely  a  man  to  be  found  who  is  not  most 
perfectly  acquainted  with  the  meaning  of  that  free- 
dom they  profess  to  bestow  ;  that  it  is  a  freedom 
from  the  dominion  of  laws  to  pass  under  the  yoke 
of  slavery,  and  from  the  fear  of  God  to  plunge  into 
crimes  and  impiety;  an  impious  barter  of  all  that  is 


479 

^ood  for  all  that  is  ill,  through  the  utmost  range  and 
limits  of  moral  destiny.  Nor  is  it  less  easy  to  de- 
velope  the  character  of  onr  principal  enemy.  A 
man  bred  in  the  school  of  ferocity,  amidst  the  din  of 
arms  and  the  tumult  of  camps  ;  his  element,  war 
and  confusion  ;  who  has  changed  his  religion  with 
his  uniform,  and  has  not  spared  the  assassination 
of  his  own  troops  :  it  is  easy  to  foresee  what  treat- 
ment such  a  man  will  give  to  his  enemies,  should 
they  fall  into  his  power  ;  to  those  enemies  especial- 
ly who,  saved  from  the  shipwreck  of  nations,  are 
preserving,  as  in  an  ark,  the  precious  remains 
of  civilization  and  order,  and  whom,  after  de- 
stroying the  liberties  of  every  other  country,  he 
envies  the  melancholy  distinction  of  being  the  only 
people  he  has  not  enslaved.  Engaged  with  such 
an  enemy,  no  weak  hopes  of  moderation  or  clemen- 
cy can  tempt  us  for  a  moment  to  relax  in  our  resist- 
ance to  his  power,  and  the  only  alternative  which, 
remains  is,  to  conquer  or  to  die. 

Hence  that  unexampled  unanimity  which  distin- 
guishes  the  present  season.  In  other  wars  we  have 
been  a  divided  people  :  the  effect  of  our  external 
operations  has  been,  in  some  measure,  weakened 
by  intestine^  dissension.  When  peace  has  return- 
ed, tlie  breach  has  widened;  while  parties  have 
l>een  formed  on  the  merits  of  particular  men,  or  of 
particular  measures.  These  have  all  disappeared  ; 
we  have  buried  our  mutual  animosities  in  a  regard 


±80 

to  the  common  safety.  The  sentiment  of  self-pre- 
servation, the  first  law  which  nature  has  impress- 
ed, has  ahsorbed  every  other  feeling ;  and  the  fire 
of  liberty  has  melted  down  the  discordant  senti- 
ments and  minds  of  the  British  Empire  into  one 
mass,  and  propelled  them  in  the  same  direction. 
Partial  interests  and  feelings  are  suspended,  the 
spirits  of  the  body  are  collected  at  the  heart,  and 
we  are  awaiting  with  anxiety,  but  without  dismay, 
the  discharge  of  that  mighty  tempest  which  hangs 
upon  the  skirts  of  the  horizon,  and  to  which  the 
eyes  of  Europe,  and  of  the  world,  are  turned  in 
silent  and  awful  expectation.  While  we  feel  so- 
licitude, let  us  not  betray  dejection  ;  nor  let  us  be 
alarmed  at  the  past  successes  of  our  enemy,  which 
are  more  dangerous  to  himself  than  to  us,  since 
they  have  raised  him  from  obscurity  to  an  elevation 
which  has  made  him  giddy,  and  tempted  liim  to 
suppose  every  thing  within  his  power.  The  intox- 
ication of  his  success  is  the  omen  of  his  fall.  What, 
though  he  has  carried  the  flames  of  war  throughout 
Europe,  and  gathered  as  a  nest  the  riches  of  the  na- 
tions, u'hile  none  peeped,  nor  muttered,  nor  moved 
the  wing;  he  has  yet  to  try  his  fortune  in  another 
field  :  he  has  yet  to  contend  on  a  soil  filled  with 
the  monuments  of  freedom,  enriched  with  the  blood 
of  its  defenders  ;  with  a  people  who,  animated  with 
one  soul,  and  inflamed  with  one  zeal,  for  their  laws 
and  for  their  prince,  are  armed  in  defence  of  all  they 
hold  dear  or  venerable  ,  their  wives,  their  parents, 


181 

their  children,  the  sanctuary  of  God,  and  the  sepul- 
chre of  their  fathers.  We  will  not  suppose  there  is  one 
who  will  be  deterred  from  exerting  himself  in  such 
a  cause,  by  a  pusillanimous  regard  to  his  safety, 
when  he  reflects  that  he  has  already  lived  too  long 
who  has  survived  the  ruin  of  his  country ;  and  that 
he  who  can  enjoy  life  after  such  an  event,  deserves 
not  to  have  lived  at  all.  It  will  suflRee  us,  if  our 
mortal  existence,  which  is  at  most  but  a  sp;in,  be 
co-extended  with  that  of  the  nation  whiijh  i^iive  us 
birth.  We  will  gladly  quit  the  scene,  with  all 
that  is  noble  and  august,  innocent  and  holy;  and 
instead  of  wishing  to  survive  the  oppression  of  weak- 
ness, the  violation  of  beauty,  and  the  extinction  of 
every  thing  on  which  the  heart  can  repose,  vt'elcome 
the  shades  which  will  hide  from  our  view  such 
horrors. 

From  the  most  ^xed  principles  of  human  nature, 
as  well  as  from  the  examples  of  all  history,  we  may 
be  certain,  the  conquest  of  this  country,  should  it  be 
permitted  to  take  place,  will  not  terminate  in  any 
ordinary  catastrophe,  in  any  much  less  calamitous 
than  utter  extermination.  Our  present  elevation 
will  be  the  exact  measure  of  our  future  depression, 
as  it  w  ill  measure  the  fears  and  jealousies  of  those 
who  subdue  us.  While  the  smallest  vestige  remains 
of  our  former  greatness,  while  any  trace  or  memorial 
exists  of  our  having  been  once  a  flourishing  and  in- 
dependent empire,  while  the   nation  breathes,  they 


183 

will  be  afraid  of  its  recovering  its  strength,  and  never 
think  themselves  secure  of  their  conquest  till  our 
navy  is  consumed,  our  wealth  dissipated,  our  com- 
merce extinguished,  every  liberal  institution  abol- 
ished, our  nobles  extirpated  ;  whatever  in  rank, 
character,  and  talents,  gives  distinction  in  society, 
called  out  and  destroyed,  and  the  refuse  which  re- 
mains, swept  together  into  a  putrifying  heap  by  the 
besom  of  destruction.  The  enemy  will  not  nee4j.to 
proclaim  tis  triumph ;  it  will  be  felt  in  the  more  ex- 
pressive silence  of  extended  desolation. 

Hecollect  for  a  moment  his  invasion  of  Egypt,  a 
country  which   had  never  given   him  the   slightest 
provocation  ;   a  country  so  remote  from  the  theatre 
of  his  crimes,   that  it  probably  did  not  know  there 
was  such  a  man  in   existence;  (happy  ignorance, 
could  it  have  lasted!)  but  while  he   was  looking 
around  him,  like  a  vulture,  perc|jed  on  an  eminence, 
for  objects  on  which  he  might  gratify  his  insatiable 
thirst  for  rapine,  he  no  sooner  beheld  the  defence- 
less condition  of  that  unhappy  country,  than  he  dart- 
ed upon  it  in  a  moment.     In  vain  did  it  struggle, 
flap  its  wings,  and  rend  the  air  with  its  shrieks  :  the 
cruel  enemy,  deaf  to  its  cries,  had  infixed  his  talons, 
and  was  busy  in  sucking  its  blood,  when  the  inter- 
ference of  a  superior  power  forced  him  to  relinquish 
his  prey,  and  betake  himself  to  flight.     Will  that 
vulture,  think  you,  ever  forget  his  disappointment 
on  that  occasion,  or  the  numerous  wounds,  blows. 


183 

and  concussions,  he  received  in  a  tenycars struggle? 
It  is  impossible.  It  were  folly  to  expect  it.  He 
meditates,  no  doubt,  the  deepest  revenge.  He  who 
saw  nothins;  in  the  simple  manners  and  bland  lib- 
erties of  the  Swiss  to  engage  his  forbearance  :  noth- 
ing in  proclaiming  hiQiself  a  Mahometan  to  revolt 
his  conscience;  nothing  in  the  condition  of  defence- 
less prisoners  to  excite  his  pity,  nor  in  that  of  the 
companions  of  his  warfare,  sick  and  wounded  in  a 
foreign  land,  to  prevent  him  from  dispatching  them 
by  poison,  will  treat  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  im- 
piety and  inhumanity  of  Isis  character,  a  nation 
which  he  naturally  dislikes  as  being  free,  dreads  as 
the  rivals  of  his  power,  and  abhors  as  the  authors  of 
his  disgrace. 

Though  these  are  undoubted  truths,  and  ought  to 
be  seriously  considered,  yet  I  would  rather  choose 
to  appeal  to  sentiments  more  elevated  than  such 
topics  can  inspire.  To  form  an  adequate  idea  of  the 
duties  of  this  crisis,  it  will  be  necessary  to  raise  your 
minds  to  a  level  with  our  station,  to  extend  your 
views  to  a  distant  futurity,  and  to  consequences  the 
most  certain,  though  most  remote.  By  a  series  of 
criminal  enterprises,  by  the  success  of  guilty  ambi- 
tion, the  liberties  of  Europe  have  been  gradually 
extinguished:  the  subjugation  of  Holland,  Switzer- 
land, and  the  free  towns  of  Germany,  has  com- 
pleted that  catrastrophe ;  and  we  are  the  only  peo- 
ple in  the  eastern  hemisphere,   who  are  in  posses- 


184 


slon  of  equal  laws  and  a  free  constitution.  Free- 
dom,  driven  from  every  spot  on  the  continent,  hag 
sought  an  asylum  in  a  country  which  she  always 
chose  for  her  favourite  abode  :  but  she  is  pursued 
even  here,  and  threatened  with  destruction.  The 
inundation  of  lawless  power,  after  covering  the 
whole  earth,  threatens  to  follow  us  here  ;  and  we 
are  most  exactly,  most  critically  placed  in  the  only 
aperture  where  it  can  be  successfully  repelled  ;  in 
the  Thermopylae  of  the  universe.  As  far  as  the  in- 
terests of  freedom  are  concerned,  the  most  impor- 
tant by  far  of  sublunary  interests,  you  my  country- 
men, standinthe  capacity  of  the  foederal  representa- 
tives of  the  human  race ;  for  in  you  it  is  to  deter- 
mine (under  God)  in  what  condition  the  latest 
posterity  shall  be  born  ;  their  fortunes  are  entrusted 
to  your  hand,  and  on  your  conduct,  at  this  moment, 
depends  the  colour  and  complexion  of  their  destiny. 
If  liberty,  after  being  extinguished  on  the  continent, 
is  suffered  to  expire  here,  whence  is  it  ever  to 
emerge  in  the  midst  of  that  thick  night  that  will 
invest  it  ?  It  remains  with  you,  then,  to  decide, 
whether  that  freedom,  at  whose  voice  the 
kingdoms  of  Europe  awoke  from  the  sleep 
of  ages,  to  run  a  career  of  virtuous  emulation  in 
every  tiling  great  and  good :  the  freedom  which 
dispelled  the  mists  of  superstition,  and  invited  the 
nations  to  behold  their  God  ;  whose  magic  touch 
kindled  the  rays  of  genius,  the  enthusiasm  of  po- 
etry, and  the  flame  of  eloquence  :  the  freedom  which 


185 

poured  into  our  lap  opulence  and  arts,  and  embel- 
lished life  with  innumerable  institutions  and  im- 
provements, till  it  became  a  theatre  of  wonders  ;  it 
is  for  you  to  decide  whether  this  freedom  shall  yet 
survive,  or  be  covered  with  a  funeral  pall  and  wrapt 
in  eternal  gloom.  It  is  not  necessary  to  await  your 
determination.  In  the  solicitude  you  feel  to  approve 
yourselves  worthy  of  such  a  trust,  every  thought  of 
what  is  afflicting  in  warfare,  every  apprehension 
of  danger  must  vanish,  and  you  are  impatient 
to  mingle  iu  the  battle  of  the  civilized  world. 
Go,  then,  ye  defenders  of  your  country,  accompani- 
ed with  every  auspicious  oraen  ;  advance  with  alac- 
rity into  the  field,  wliere  God  himself  musters  the 
hosts  to  war.  Religion  is  too  much  interested  in 
your  success  not  to  lend  you  her  aid.  She  will 
shed  over  this  enterprise  her  selectest  influence. 
While  you  are  engaged  in  the  field,  many  will  re- 
pair to  the  closet,  many  to  the  sanctuary  ;  the  faith- 
ful of  every  name  will  employ  that  prayer  which 
has  power  with  God  ;  the  feeble  hands  which  are 
unequal  to  any  other  weapon,  will  grasp  the  sword 
of  the  spirit ;  and  from  myriads  of  humble  and  con- 
trite hearts,  the  voice  of  intercession,  supplication, 
and  weeping,  will  mingle  in  its  ascent  to  heaven 
with  the  shouts  of  battle  and  the  shock  of  arms. 

While  you  have  every  thing  to  fear  from  the  suc- 
cess of  the  enemy,  you  have  every  means  of  pre- 
venting that  success ;  so  that  it  is  next  to  impossi- 

S4 


186 

ble  for  victory  not  to  crown  your  exertions.     The 
extent  of  your  resources,  under  God,  are  equal  to 
the  justice  of  your  cause.     But  should  Providence 
determine  otherwise,   should  you  fall  in  the  strug- 
gle, should  the  nation  fall,  you  will  have  the  satis- 
faction (the  purest  allotted  to  man)  of  having  per- 
formed your  part;  virtue  will  atone  for  the  out- 
rages of  fortune,  by  conducting  you  to  immortality  : 
your  names  will  be  enrolled  with  the  most  illustri- 
ous dead ;  while  posterity  to  the  end  of  time,  as  of- 
ten as  they  revolve  the   events  of  this  period,   and 
they   will  incessantly  revolve  them,   will  turn  to 
you  a  reverential  eye,  while  they  mourn  over  the 
freedom  which  is  entombed  in  your  sepulchre.     I 
cannot   but  imagine   the  virtuous  heroes,  legisla- 
tors,  and  patriots  of  every  age  and  country,   are 
bending  from  their  elevated  seats  to  witness   this 
contest,  as  if  they  were  incapable,  till  it  be  brought 
to  a  favourable  issue,  of  enjoying  their  eternal  re- 
pose.    Enjoy  that   repose,  illustrious  immortals ! 
your  mantle  fell  when  you  ascended;  and  thous- 
ands, inflamed  with  your  spirit,   and  impatient  to 
tread  in  your  steps,  are  ready  to  swear  by  Him  that 
sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  livethfor  ever  and  ever, 
they  will  protect  freedom  in   her  last  asylum,   and 
never  desert  that  cause  which  you   sustained   by 
your  labours,  and  cemented  with  your  blood.    And 
thou,   sole  Ruler  among  the  ehihlren  of  men,  to 
whom  the  shields  of  the  earth  belong,  gird  on  thy 
sirord,  thou  Most  Mighty:  go  forth  w  ith  our  hosts  in 


187 

the  day  of  battle.  Impart,  in  additiou  to  their  he- 
reditary valour,  that  confidence  of  success  which 
springs  from  thy  {Presence :  pour  into  their  hearts 
the  spirit  of  departed  heroes  :  inspire  them  with 
thine  own ;  and,  while  led  by  thine  hand,  and  fight- 
ing under  thy  banners,  open  thou  their  eyes  to  be- 
hold in  every  valley,  and  in  every  plain,  what  the 
prophet  beheld  by  the  same  illumination,  chariots 
of  fire  and  horses  of  fire.  Then  shall  the  strong  man 
he  as  tow,  and  the  maker  of  it  as  a  sparky  and  they 
shall  both  burn  together,  and  none  shall  quench 
them. 


I 


THE 

•Advantages  of  Knowledge  to  the  Lower  Classes, 


SERMON, 

PREACHED    AT 

HERVEYLANE,  LEICESTER, 

FOB   THE    BENEFIT    OV 

•3  SUjyjDAF  SCHOOL. 


BY  ROBERT  HALL,  A.  M. 


FROM   THE   LATEST   LONDON   EDITION. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


TO  attempt  to  disarm  the  severity  of  criticism  by  hu- 
miliation or  enti'eaty,  would  be  a  hopeless  task.  Waving 
every  apology,  the  Author,  therefore,  bas  only  to  remark, 
that  the  motives  of  a  v/riter  must  ever  remain  a  secret, 
but  the  kndency  of  what  he  writes,  is  capable  of  being  as- 
certained j  and  is  in  reality  the  only  consideration  in 
whicii  the  public  are  interested.  The  Author  is  concerned 
at  an  unexpected  coincidence  in  the  text,  betwixt  this  and 
a  very  excellent  discourse,  delivered  on  a  similar  occasion, 
and  published  by  his  much  esteemed  friend,  the  Rev.  Fran- 
cis Coxe.  The  coincidence  was  entirely  accidental,  and 
the  text  in  each  instance  being  employed  very  much  in  tho 
manner  of  a  motto,  it  is  hoped  the  train  of  thought  will 
be  found  sufficiently  distinct.  He  cannot  conclude  with- 
out recommending  to  the  public,  and  to  the  young  espe- 
cially, the  serious  perusal  of  the  above  mentioned  animated 
and  impressive  discourse. 


The  Advantages  of  Knowledge  to  the  Lower 
Classes. 


SERMON, 

&c.  &c. 

PROVERBS,  XIX.  2. 

THAT  THE  HEART  BE  WITHOUT  KNOWLEDGE,  IT  IS  NOT 

GOOD. 


1  HROUGHouT  cvery  part  of  this  book,  the  author 
is  copious  and  even  profuse  in  the  praises  of  know- 
ledge. To  stimulate  to  the  acquisition  of  it,  and 
to  assist  in  the  pursuit,  is  the  professed  design  with 
which  it  was  penned.  To  know  wisdom  and  in- 
struction ;  to  perceive  the  words  of  understanding  ; 
to  receive  the  instruction  of  wisdom,  justice,  and 
judgment,  and  equity  ;  to  give  subtlety  to  the  sim- 
ple,  to  the  young  man  knowledge  and  discretion. 

Though  it  is  evident  from  many  passages,  that 
in  the  encomiums  to  which  we  have  referred,  the 
author  had  principally  in  view  divine  knowledge, 
yet  from  other  parts  it  is  erjually  certain  he  by  no 
means  intended  to  exclude  from  these  commenda- 
tions, knowledge  in  general;  and  as  we  propose 
this  afternoon  to  recommend  to  your  attention  the 

g0 


194 

Sahbath-day  School  established  in  this  place,  a  fevr 
reflections  on  the  utility  of  knowledge  at  large,  and 
of  religious  knowledge  in  particular,  will  not  be 
deemed  unseasonable. 

1.  Let   me  request  your  attention  to  a  few  re- 
marks  on  the  utilily  of  knowledge  in  general.     It 
must  strike  us,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  extent  to 
which  we  have  the  faculty  of  acquiring  it,  forms  the 
most  obvious  distinction  of  our  species.     In  inferior 
animals,  it  subsists  in   so  small  a  degree,  that   we 
are  wont  to  deny  it  to  them  altogether,  the  range  of 
their  knowledge,  if  it  deserve  the  name,  is  so  ex- 
tremely limited,  and  their  ideas  so  few  and  simple. 
Whatever  is  most  exquisite  in   their  operations,  is 
referred  to  an  instinct,  which  working  within  a  nar- 
row compass,  though  with  undeviating  uniformity, 
supplies  the  place,  and  supersedes  the  necessity  of 
reason.     In  inferior  animals,  the  knowledge  of  the 
whole   species   is   possessed  by  each  individual  of 
the  species,  while  man  is  distinguished  by  number- 
less diversities  in  the  scale  of  mental  improvement. 
Now  to  be  destitute  in   a  remarkable  degree  of  an 
acquisition  w  hich  forms  the  appropriate  possession 
of  human  nature,  is   degrading  to    that  nature,  and 
must   proportionably  disqualify  it  for  reaching  the 
end  of  its  creation. 

As   the  power  of  acquiring  knowledge  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  reason,  so  the  attainment  of  it  miglitily 


195 

strengthens  and  improves  it,  and  thereby  enables 
it  to  enrich  itself  with  further  acquisitions.  Know- 
ledge in  general  expands  the  mind,  exalts  the 
faculties,  refines  the  taste  of  pleasure,  and  opens 
innumerable  sources  of  intellectual  enjoyment.  By 
means  of  it,  we  become  less  dependent  for  satisfac- 
tion upon  tlie  sensative  appetites,  the  gross  plea- 
sures of  sense  are  more  easily  despised,  and  we 
are  made  to  feel  the  superiority  of  the  spiritual  to 
the  material  part  of  our  nature.  Instead  of  being 
continually  solicited  by  the  influence  and  irritation 
of  sensible  objects,  the  mind  can  retire  within  her- 
self, and  expatiate  in  the  cool  and  quiet  walks  of 
contemplation.  The  author  of  nature  has  wisely 
annexed  a  pleasure  to  the  exercise  of  our  active 
powers,  and  particularly  to  the  pursuit  of  truth, 
which  if  it  be  in  some  instances  less  intense,  is  far 
more  durable  than  the  gratifications  of  sense,  and  is 
on  that  account  incomparably  more  valuable.  Its 
duration,  to  say  nothing  of  its  other  properties,  ren- 
ders it  more  valuable.  It  may  be  repeated  without 
satiety,  and  pleases  afresh  on  every  reflection  npon 
it.  These  are  self-created  satisfactions,  always 
within  our  reach,  not  dependent  upon  events,  not 
requiring  a  peculiar  combination  of  circumstances 
to  produce  or  maintain  them,  they  rise  from  tiie 
mind  itself,  and  inhere,  so  to  speak,  in  its  very  suit- 
stance.  Let  the  mind  but  relain  its  proper  func- 
tions, and  they  spring  up  spontaneously,  unsoli- 
cited, unborrowed,  and  unbought.     ¥j\va\  the  diffi- 


196 

culties  and  impediments  which  obstriict  the  pursuit 
of  truth,  serve,  according  to  the  economy  under 
which  we  are  placed,  to  render  it  more  interesting. 
The  labour  of  intellectual  search,  resembles  and 
exceeds  the  tumultuous  pleasures  of  the  chase,  and 
the  consciousness  of  overcoming  a  formidable  obsta- 
cle, or  of  lighting  on  some  happy  discovery,  gives 
all  the  enjoyment  of  a  conquest,  without  those  cor- 
roding reflections  by  which  the  latter  must  be  im- 
paired. Can  we  doubt  that  Archimedes,  who  was 
so  absorbed  in  his  contemplations  as  not  to  be  di- 
verted by  the  sacking  of  his  native  city,  and  was 
killed  in  the  very  act  of  meditating  a  mathematical 
theorem,  did  not  when  he  exclaimed  iv^>ix.ce.^.  sv^axecl^ 
feel  a  transport  as  genuine  as  was  ever  experienced 
after  the  most  brilliant  victory  ? 

But  to  return  to  the  moral  good  which  results 
from  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  ;  it  is  chiefly  this, 
that  by  multiplying  the  mental  resources,  it  has  a 
tendency  to  exalt  the  character,  and,  in  some 
measure,  to  correct  and  subdue  the  taste  for  gross 
sensuality.  It  enables  the  possessor  to  beguile  his 
leisure  moments  (and  every  man  has  such)  in  an 
innocent  at  least,  if  not  in  a  useful  manner.  The 
poor  man  who  can  read,  and  who  possesses  a  taste 
for  reading,  can  find  entertainment  at  home,  without 
being  tempted  to  repair  to  the  public-house  for  that 

•  I  have  found  it !  I  have  found  it  J 


197 

purpose.  His  mind  can  find  him  employment  wlien 
his  body  is  at  rest;  he  does  not  lie  prostrate  and 
afloat  on  tlie  current  of  incidents,  liable  to 
be  carried  whithersoever  the  impulse  of  appetite 
may  direct.  There  is  in  the  mind  of  such  a  man 
an  intellectual  spring  urj^ing  him  to  the  pursuit  of 
mental  s,ooi\ ;  and  if  the  minds  of  his  family  also  are 
a  little  cultivated,  conversation  becomes  the  more  in- 
teresting, and  the  sphere  of  domestic  enjoyment 
enlarged.  The  calm  satisfaction  which  books 
afford,  puts  him  into  a  disposition  to  relish  more 
exquisitely,  the  tranquil  delight  inseparable  from 
the  indulgence  of  conjugal  and  parental  affection  ; 
and  as  he  will  be  more  respectable  in  the  eyes  of 
his  family  than  he  who  can  teach  them  nothing, 
he  will  be  naturally  induced  to  cultivate  what 
ever  may  preserve,  and  shun  whatever  would 
impair  that  respect.  He  who  is  inured  to  re- 
flection will  carry  his  views  beyond  the  present 
hour  ;  he  will  extend  his  prospect  a  little  into  futu- 
rity, and  be  disposed  to  make  some  provision  for 
his  approaching  wants  ;  whence  will  result  an  in- 
creased motive  to  industry,  together  with  a  caie  to 
husband  his  earnings,  and  to  avoid  unnecessary 
expense.  The  poor  man  who  has  gained  a  tasle 
for  good  books,  will  in  all  likelihood  become 
thoughtful,  and  wlsen  you  h.ave  given  the  poor  a 
habit  of  thinking,  you  have  conferred  on  them  a 
much  greater  favour  than  by  the  gift  of  a  large  sum 


198 

of  money,  since  you  have  put  them  in  possesion  of 
the  jprinciple  of  all  legitimate  prosperity. 

I  am  persuaded  that  tl^e  extreme  profligacy,  im- 
providence, and  misery,  which  are  so  prevalent 
among  the  labouring  classes  in  many  countries,  are 
chiefly  to  be  ascribed  to  the  want  of  education.  In 
proof  of  this  we  need  only  cast  our  eyes  on  the  con- 
dition of  the  Irish,  compared  with  that  of  the  peas- 
antry in  Scotland.  Among  the  former  you  behold 
nothing  but  beggary,  wretchedness,  and  sloth  :  in 
S^^otlaud,  on  tlie  contrary  under  the  disadvantages 
of  a  worse  climate  and  more  unproductive  soil,  a 
degree  of  decency  and  comfort,  the  fruit  of  sobriety 
and  industry,  are  conspicuous  among  the  lower 
classes.  And  to  m  hat  is  this  disparity  in  their  situa- 
tiv>n  to  be  ascribed,  except  to  the  influence  of  educa- 
tion ?  In  Ireland,  the  education  of  the  poor  is 
miserably  neglected,  very  few  of  them  can  read, 
and  they  grow  up  in  a  total  ignorance  of  what  it 
most  befits  a  rational  creature  to  understand ; 
while  in  Scotland  the  establishment  of  free-schools 
in  every  parisli,  an  essential  branch  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical constitution  of  the  country,  brings  the  means 
of  instruction  within  the  reach  of  the  poorest,  who 
are  there  inured  to  decency,  industry,  and  order. 

Some  have  objected  to  the  instruction  of  the  lower 
classes,  from  an  apprehension  that  it  would  lift  tiicm 
above  their  sphere,  make  them  dissatisfied  with  their 


199 

station  in  life,  and  by  impairiisg  the  habit  of  subordi- 
nation, endanger  the  tranquillity  of  the  state;  an  ob- 
jection devoid  surely  of  all  force  and  validity.  It 
is  not  easy  to  conceive  in  what  manner  instructing 
men  in  their  duties  can  prompt  them  to  neglect 
those  duties,  or  how  that  enlargement  of  reason 
which  enables  them  to  comprehend  the  true  grounds 
of  authority  and  the  obligation  to  obedience,  should 
indispose  them  to  obey.  The  admirable  mecha- 
nism of  society,  together  with  that  subordination  of 
ranks  whicli  is  essential  to  its  subsistence,  is  surely 
not  an  elaborate  imposture,  whicli  the  exercise  of 
reason  will  detect  and  expose.  The  objection  we 
have  stated,  implies  a  reflection  on  the  social  order, 
equally  impolitic,  invidious,  and  unjust.  Nothing 
iu  reality  renders  legitimate  government  so  insecure 
as  extreme  ignorance  in  the  people..  It  is  this  which 
yields  them  an  easy  prey  to  seduction,  makes  them 
the  victims  of  prejudice  and  false  alarms,  and  so  fe- 
rocious withal,  that  their  interference  in  atimeof  pub- 
lie  commotion,  is  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  erup- 
tion of  a  volcano. 

The  true  prop  of  good  government  is  opinion,  the 
perception  on  t!)e  part  of  tlie  subject  of  benefits  re- 
sulting from  it,  a  settled  conviction,  in  other  words, 
of  its  being  a  public  good.  Now  nothing  can  pro- 
duce or  maintain  that  opinion  but  knowledge,  since 
opinion  is  a  form  of  knowledge.  Of  tyrannical  and 
unlawful  governments,  indeed,   the  support  is  fear. 


soo 

to  which  ignorance  is  as  congenial  as  it  is  abhor- 
rent from  the  genius  of  a  free  people.  Look  at  the 
popular  insurrections  and  massacres  in  France  :  of 
what  description  of  persons  were  those  ruffians  com- 
posed who,  breaking  forth  like  a  torrent,  overwhelm- 
ed the  mounds  of  lawful  authority?  Who  were 
the  cannibals  that  sported  with  the  mangled  carca- 
ses and  palpitating  limbs  of  their  murdered  victims, 
and  dragged  them  about  with  their  teeth  in  the 
gardens  of  the  Thuilleries  ?  Were  they  refined  and 
elaborated  into  these  barbarities  by  the  efforts  of  a 
too  polished  education?  No:  they  were  the  very 
scum  of  the  populace,  destitute  of  all  moral  culture, 
whose  atrocity  was  only  equalled  by  their  ignorance 
as  might  well  be  expected,  when  the  one  was  the 
legitimate  parent  of  the  other.  Who  are  the  per- 
sons who,  in  every  country,  are  most  disposed  to 
outrage  and  violence,  but  the  most  ignorant  and  un- 
educated of  the  poor  ;  to  which  class  also  chiefly 
belong  those  unhappy  beings  who  are  doomed  to  ex- 
piate their  crimes  at  the  fatal  tree  ;  few  of  whom,  it 
has  recently  been  ascertained,  on  accurate  enquiry 
are  able  to  read,  and  the  greater  part  utterly  desti- 
tute of  all  moral  or  religious  principle. 

Ignorance  gives  a  sort  of  eternity  to  prejudice, 
and  perpetuity  to  error.  When  a  baleful  super- 
stition, like  that  of  the  church  of  Rome,  has  once 
got  footing  among  a  people  in  this  situation,  it  be- 
comes next  to  impossible  to  eradicate  it :  for  it  can 


1801 

only  be  assailed,  with  success,  by  the  weapons  of 
reason  anil  argument,  and  to  these  weapons  it  is  im- 
passive. The  sword  of  ethereal  temper  loses  its 
edge,  when  tried  on  the  scaly  hide  of  this  leviathan. 
No  wonder  the  church  of  Home  is  such  a  fiiend  to 
ignorance  ;  it  is  but  paying  the  arrears  of  gratitude 
in  which  she  is  deeply  indebted.  How  is  it  possible 
for  !ier  not  to  hate  tliat  light  which  would  unveil 
her  impostures,  and  detect  her  enormities? 

If  we  survey  the  genius  of  Cl^ristianity,  we  shall 
find  it  to  be  just  the  reverse.     It  was  ushered  into 
the  world  with  the  injunction,  go  and  teach  all  na- 
tions, and  every  step  of  its  progress  is  to  be  ascrib- 
ed t«»  instruction.     With  a  condescension  worthy  of 
its  author,  it  oiFer'-  information  to  the  meanest  and 
most  illiterate  ;  but  extreme  ignorance  is  not  a  sfate 
of  mind  favourable  to  it.     The  first  churches  were 
planted  in  cities,  (and  those  the  most  celebrated  and 
enlightene<l)    drawn   neither   from  the  very  highest 
nor  the  very  lowest  classes  ;  the  former  too  often 
the  victims  of  luxury  and  pride,  the  latter  sunk  in 
extreme    stupidity  ;   but  from    the  middle  orders, 
were  the  largest  portion  of  virtue   and  good  sense 
has  usually  resided,     wn  remote  villages,  its  pro- 
gress was  extremely  slow,  owing  unquestionably  to 
that  want  of   mental  cultivation,    which  rendered 
them    the    last    retreats    of     superstition ;     inso- 
much that  in  the  fifth  century,  the   abettors   of  the 
ancient  idolatry  began  to  be  denominated  Pagani^ 

S6 


S03 

'ivhirli  properly  denotes  the  inhabitants  of  the  coun- 
try; in  distinction  from  those  who  reside   in  towns. 
At  the   Reformation,  the  progress   of  the  reformed 
faith  went  hand  in  hand   with  the   advjincement  of 
letters  ;  it   had   every  where   the  same  friends  and 
the  same  enemies,  and    nexl;  to  its  agreement  with 
the  Holy   Scriptures,    its  success  is   chiefly  to    be 
ascribed,  under  God,  to  the  art  cf  printing,   the  re- 
vival of  classical  learning,    and   the  illustrious  pa- 
trons of  science  attached  to   its  cause.     In  the  re- 
presentation of  that  glorious  period,  usually   styled 
the    Millennium,  when  religion    shall  universally 
prevail,    it   is  mentioned  as  a  conspicuous  feature, 
that  men  shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knoicledge  shall 
be  increased.     That  period  will  not  be  distinguish- 
ed from  the  preceding,  by  men's  mind|  being  more 
torpid  and   inactive,  but  rather  by  th^  consecration 
of  every   power  to  the  service  of  the  Most  High. 
It  will  be  a  period  of  remarkable  illumination,  dur- 
ing which  the  light  of  the  moon  shall  be  as  the  light 
of  the  sun,  and  the  light  of  the  sun  as  that  of  seven 
days.     Every  useful  talent  will  be  cultivated,  every 
heart  subservient  to  the  interests  of  man,  be  improved 
and  perfected:  learning  will  amass  her  stores,  and 
genius  emit  hei*  splendour;, but  the  former  will  be 
displayed   without  ostentation,  and  the  latter  shine 
with  the  softened  elTulgence  of  humility  and  love. 

2.  We  have  hitherto   spoken  of  the  advantages 
of  knowledge  in  general ;    we   proceed   to  notice 


S03 

tl'.e    ulility  of  religious    knowledge    m   paitieular. 
Religion,   ou  aceouiil-  of  its   intimate  relation  to  a 
future  state,  is   every   man's  proper  business,  and 
should   be  iiis   chief  care.     Of  knowledge  in  gene- 
ral,   there  are  branches   which  it  would  be  prepos- 
terous iu  the  bulk  of  mankind  to  attempt  to  acquire, 
because  they    have  no   immediate  connection    wilii 
their  duliesj,  and  demand   talents   which  nature  has 
denied,  or  opportunities  which  providence  has  with- 
held.    But  with    respect    to  the   primary   truths  of 
religion,  the   case   is  different ;    tiiey   are   of   such 
daily  use  and  necessity,  that  they  form  not  iiie  ma- 
terials of  mental  luxury,   so  properly,  as  the  food 
of  the  mind.     In   improving  the  character,   the  in- 
fluence of  general   knowledge  is  often  feeble,   and 
always  indirect ;  of  religious  knowledj^o  the   ten- 
dency to  purify  the  heart  is  immediate,  and  forms 
its  professed  scope  and  design.     This  is  life  eter- 
nal to  know  thee,  the  only  true    God  and  Jesus 
Christ,    whom   thou   hast   sent.     To  ascertain  the 
character  of  the   supreme  Author  of  all   things,  to 
know,  as  far  as  we  are  capable  of  comprehending 
such  a  subject,  what  is  his  moral  disposition,  what 
the  situation  we  stand  in  towards  him,  and  the  princi- 
ples by  which  he  conducts  his  administration,  will 
be  allowed  by  every  considerate  person  to  be  of  th« 
higiiest  consequence.     Compari'd   to  tliis?,  all  other 
speculations   or   inquiries   sink  into  insigniricaucc  : 
because  every  event  that  can  befal  us.  in  iu  his 


20^ 

hands,  and  by  his  sentence,  our  final  condition 
must  be  fixed.  To  regard  such  an  enquiry  with 
indifference,  is  the  mark  not  of  a  noble  but  of  an 
abject  mind,  which  immersed  in  sensuality,  or 
amused  with  trifles,  deems  itself  unworthy  of  eter- 
nal life.  To  be  so  absorbed  in  worldly  pursuits, 
as  to  neglect  future  prospects,  is  a  conduct  that 
can  plead  no  excuse,  until  it  is  ascertained  beyond 
all  doubt  or  contradiction,  that  there  is  no  hereaf- 
ter, and  that  nothing  remains  but  that  we  eat  and 
drink,  for  to-morroiv  ice  die.  Even  in  that  case, 
to  forego  the  hope  of  immortality  without  a  sigh  ; 
to  be  gay  and  sportive  on  the  brink  of  destruction, 
in  the  very  moment  of  relinquishing  prospects,  on 
which  the  wisest  and  best  in  every  age  have  de- 
lighted to  dwell,  is  the  indication  of  a  base  and 
degenerate  spirit.  If  existence  be  a  good,  the  eter- 
nal loss  of  it  must  be  a  great  evil :  if  it  be  an  evil, 
reason  suggests  the  propriety  of  enquiring  why  it 
is  so,  of  investigating  the  maladies  by  which  it  is 
oppressed.  Amidst  the  darkness  and  uncertainty 
which  hang  over  our  future  condition.  Revelation, 
by  bringing  life  and  immortality  to  light,  affords  the 
only  relief.  In  the  Bible  alone  we  learn  the  real 
character  of  the  Supreme  Being,  his  holiness,  jus- 
tice, mercy,  and  truth,  the  moral  condition  of  man, 
considered  in  iiis  relation  to  Him  is  clearly  pointed 
out,  the  doom  of  impenitent  transgressors  denounc- 
ed^ and  the  method  of  obtaining  mercy,  through  the 


t05 

interposition  of  a  divine  Mediator,  plainly  revealed. 
There  are  two  considerations  which  may  suffice  to 
evince  the  indispensa1)le  necessity  of  scriptural 
knowledge. 

I.  The  Scriptures  contain  an  authentic  discovery 
of  the  way  of  salvation  They  are  a  revelation  of 
mercy  to  a  lost  world  ;  a  reply  to  that  most  inter- 
esting enquiry,  what  we  mm^t  do  to  be  saved.  The 
distin2;uishin2;  feature  of  the  Grospel  system,  is  the 
economy  of  redemption,  or  thp  gracious  provision 
the  Supreme  Being  has  thought  fit  to  make  for  re- 
conciling the  world  to  himself,  by  the  manifestation 
in  human  nature  of  his  own  Son.  It  is  this  which 
constitutes  it  the  Gospel,  by  way  of  eminence,  or  the 
glad  tidings  concerning  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
on  the  right  reception  of  which,  orits  rejection,  turns 
our  everlasting  weal  or  woe.  It  is  not  from  the 
character  of  God  as  our  creator,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered, that  the  hope  of  the  guilty  can  arise  ;  the 
fullest  devclopement  of  his  essential  perfections 
could  afford  no  relief  in  this  case,  and  therefore 
natural  religion,  were  it  capable  of  being  carried  to 
the  utmost  perfection,  can  never  supersede  the  ne- 
cessity of  revealed.  To  inspire  confidence,  an  ex- 
press communication  from  heaven  is  necessary  :  since 
the  introduction  of  sin  has  produced  a  peculiarity  in 
our  situation,  and  a  perplexity  in  our  prospects, 
which  nothing  but  an  express  assurance  of  mercy 
can  remove. 


S06 

In  v.'l)at  manner,  the  blessed  and  only  Potentate, 
may  ihiuk  fit  to  dispose  of  a  race  of  apostates,  is 
a  question  on  which  reason  can  suggest  nothing 
feaiisfactory,  nothing  salutary  :  a  question,  in  the 
solution  of  which,  there  being  no  data  to  proceed 
ni^ion,  wisdom  and  folly  show  alike,  and  every  order 
rlinl^ellect  is  reduced  to  a  level,  for  icho  hath  known 
ike  viind  of  the  Lord,  or  heing  his  counsellor  hath 
taught  him.  It  is  a  secret  wliich,  had  he  not  been 
pleased  to  unfold  it,  must  have  for  ever  remained 
in  the  breast  of  the  Deity.  This  secret,  in  infinite 
iiier.,'y  he  has  condescended  to  disclose  :  the  silence, 
irot  that  which  John  witnessed  in  the  Apocalypse, 
of  bf'lf  an  hour,  but  that  of  ages,  is  broken,  the 
e  jrkness  is  past,  and  we  behold,  in  the  Gospel,  the 
astonishing  spectacle  of  God  in  Christ  reconciling 
the  icorld  unto  himself,  not  imputing  to  them  their 
trespasses,  and  sending  forth  his  ambassadors  to 
intreat  us  in  Christ's  stead  to  be  reconciled  to  God. 
To  that  strange  insensibility  with  respect  to  the 
concerns  of  a  future  world,  which  is  at  once  the  in- 
dication and  conseqnence  of  the  fall,  must  we 
ascribe  the  languid  attention,  with  which  this  com- 
munication is  received,  instead  of  producing,  as  it 
ought,  transports  of  gratitude  and  joy  in  every 
breast. 

This,  however  we  may  be  disposed  to  regard  it, 
is  unquestionably  the  grand  peculiarity  of  the  Gos- 
pel, the  exclusive  boast  and  treasure  of  the  Scrip- 


S07 

tures,  and  most  pmpliatieally  the  way  of  salvation, 
not  only  as  it  reveals  the  gracious  intentions  of  God 
to  a  sinful  world,  but  as  it  lays  a  solid  foundation 
for  the  supernatural  duties  of  faith  and  repentance. 
All  the  discoveries  of  the  Gospel,  bear  a  most  in- 
timate relation  to  the  character  and  offices  of  the 
Saviour ;    from    liim    they   emanate,  in    him   they 
centre ;   nor  is  any  thing  we  learn  from  the  Old  or 
New  Testament  of  saving  tendency,  further  than 
as  a  part  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jpsiis.     The  ne2;lcct 
of  considering  revelation  in  this  light,  is  a  fruitful 
source  of  infidelity.     Viewing  it  in  no  higher  char- 
acter  than  a  republication   of  the  law   of  nature, 
men  are  first  led  to  doubt  the  importance,  and  next 
the  truth  of  the  discoveries  it  contains  ;  an  easy  and 
natural  transition,  sin-ce  the  question  of  their  impor- 
tance, is  so  complicated  with  that  of  their  truth,  in 
the  Scriptures  themselves,  that  the  most  refined  in- 
genuity cannot  long  keep  them  separate.     It  gives 
the  kiioicledge  of  salvation  by  the  remission  ofsins^ 
through  the  tender  mercy  of  our  God,  whereby  the 
day-spring  from  on  high  hath   visited  us,  to  give 
light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of 
death,  to  guide  our  feet  into  the  wry  of  peace.  While 
we  contemplate  it  under  this  its  true  character,  we 
view  it  in  its  just  dimensions,  .lud  feel  no  inclina- 
tion to  extenuate  the  f.;rce  (?f  those  representations 
which  are   expressive   of  its  pre-eminent  dignity. 
There  is  nothing  will  be  allowed  to  come  into  com- 
parison  with  it,    nothing  we  sliall  ?iot  be  ready  to 


SOS 

sacrifice  for  a  participation  of  its  blessings,  and  the 
cxiehsiou  of  its  iniiiience  The  veneration  we  shall 
fee!  forliie  Ii;b1e.  as  the  depository  of  saving  know- 
ledge, will  be  totally  distinct,  not  only  from  what  we 
attach  to  any  other  book,  but  from  that  admiration 
its  other  properties  inspire  ;  and  the  variety  and 
antiquity  of  its  history,  the  light  it  affords  in  various 
researches,  its  inimitable  touches  of  nature,  together 
with  the  sublimity  and  beauty  so  copiously  poured 
over  its  pages,  will  be  deemed  subsidiary  orna- 
ments, the  embellishments  of  the  casket,  which 
contains  the  pearl  of  great  price. 

S.  Scriptural  knowledge  is  of  inestimable  value 
on  account  of  its  supplying  an  infallable  rule  of  life. 
To  the  most  untutored  mind,  the  information  it  af- 
fords on  this  subject,  is  far  more  full  and  precise 
than  the  highest  efforts  of  reason  could  attain.  In 
the  best  moral  precepts  issuing  from  human  wisdom, 
there  is  an  incurable  defect  in  that  want  of  authori- 
ty which  robs  them  of  their  power  over  the  con- 
science ;  they  are  obligatory  no  farther  than  their 
reason  is  perceived,  a  deduction  of  proofs  is  neces- 
sary, more  or  less  intricate  and  uncertain,  and  even 
when  clearest,  it  is  still  but  the  language  of  man,  to 
man,  respectable  as  sage  advice,  but  wanting  the 
force  and  authority  of  law.  In  a  well-attested  reve- 
lation, it  is  the  Judge  speaking  from  the  tribunal, 
the  supreme  Legislator  promulging  and  interpreting 
his  own  laws.     With  what  force  and  conviction,  do 


those  Apostles  and  Prophets  address  us,  whose  mi- 
raculous powers  attest  them  to  be  the  servants  of  the 
Most  High,  tlio  immediate  organs  of  the  Deity!  As 
the  morality  of  the  Gospel  is  more  pure  and  com- 
prehensive than  was  ever  inculcated  before,  so  the 
consideration  of  its  divine  origination,  invests  it 
with  an  energy,  of  which  every  system  not  express- 
ly founded  upon  it,  is  entirely  devoid.  We  turn  at 
our  peril  from  him  who  speaketh  to  us  from  heaven. 

Of  an  accountable  creature,  duty  is  the  concern 
of  every  moment,  since  he  is  every  moment  pleasing 
or  displeasing  God.      It  is  a  universal    element, 
mingling  with  every  action,  and  qualifying  every 
disposition  and  pursuit.     The  moral  quality  of  con- 
duct,  as  it  serves  both  to  ascertain   and  to  form  the 
character,   has  consequences  in  a  future  world,  so 
certain  and  infallible,  that  it  is  represented  in  Scrip, 
ture,  as  a  seed,  no  part  of  which  is  lost,  for  2vhat- 
$oever  a  man  soweth,  that  also  shall  he  reap.     That 
rectitude  which  the  inspired  writers  usually  denom- 
inate holiness,  is  the  health  and  beauty  of  the  soul, 
capable  of  bestowing  dignity  in  the  absence  of  every 
other  accomplishment,   while  the  want  of  it  leaves 
the  possessor  of  the  richest  intellectual  endowments 
a  painted  sepulchre.     Hence  results  the  indispensa- 
ble   iiGiessity,  to  every  description  of  persons,  of 
sound  religious  instruction,  and  of  an   intimate  ac- 
quaintance   with   the     Scriptures    as  its    gfuuine 
source. 

37 


SIO 

It  must  be  confessed,  from  melanelioly  experi- 
ence, that  a  speculative  acquaintance  with  the  rules 
of  duty,  is  too  compatible  with  the  violation  of  it« 
dictates,  and  that  it  is  possible  for  the  convictions 
of  conscience  to  be  habitually  overpowered  by  the 
corrupt  suggestions  of  appetite.  To  see  distinctly 
the  right  way,  and  to  pursue  it,  are  not  precisely 
the  same  thing.  Still,  nothing  in  the  order  of  means 
promises  so  much  success  as  the  diligent  inculcation 
of  revealed  truth.  He  who  is  acquainted  with  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord,  cannot  live  in  the  neglect  of 
God  and  religion  with  present  any  more  than  with 
future  impunity  ;  the  path  of  disobedience  is  obstruc- 
ted, if  not  rendered  impassible,  and  wherever  h* 
turns  his  eyes  he  beholds  the  sword  of  divine  justice 
stretched  out  to  intercept  his  passage.  Guilt  will 
be  appalled,  conscience  alarmed,  and  the  fruits  of 
unlavs  ful  gratification  embittered  to  his  taste. 

It  is  surely  desirable  to  place  as  many  obstacles 
as  possible  in  the  path  to  ruin  :  to  take  care  that  the 
image  of  death  shall  meet  the  offender  at  every  turn, 
that  he  shall  not  be  able  to  persist  without  treading 
upon  briars  and  scorpions,  without  forcing  his  way 
through  obstructions  more  formidable  than  he  can 
expect  to  meet  with  in  a  contrary  course.  If  you  can 
enlist  the  nobler  part  of  his  nature  under  the  banners 
of  virtue,  set  him  at  war  with  himself,  and  subject 
him  to  the  necessity,  should  he  persevere,  of  stifling 
and  overcoming  whatever  is  most  characteristic  of  a 
reasonable  creature,  you  hav«  done  what  will  pro- 


Sll 

bably  not  be  unproductive  of  advantage.     If  he  is  at 
the  same  time  reminded,  by  his  acquaintance  with 
the  word  of  God,  of  a  better  state  of  mind  being  at- 
tainable, a  better  destiny  reserved,  provided  they 
are  willing  and   obedient,  for  the  children  of  men, 
there  is  room  to  hope  that  wearied^  to  speak  in  the 
language  of  the  prophet,  in  the  greatness  of  his  way, 
he  will  bethink  himself  of  the  true  refuge,  and  im- 
plore the  spirit  of  grace  to  aid  his  weakness,  and 
subdue  his  corruptions.     Sound  religious  instruc- 
tion is  a  perpetual  counterpoise  to  the  force  of  depra- 
vity.    The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the 
soul  ;   the   testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making 
zvise  the  simjile  ;    the  commandment  of  the  Lord  is 
pure,  enlightening  the  eyes  ;   the  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
clean,    enduring  for  ever  ;   the  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  true,  and  righteous  altogether. 

While  we  insist  on  the  absolute  necessity  of  an 
accpiaintance  with  the  word  of  God,  we  are  e(]ually 
convinced  it  is  but  an  instrument,  which  like  every 
other,  requires  a  hand  to  wield  it,  and  that  important 
as  it  is  in  the  order  of  means,  the  spirit  of  Christ 
only  can  make  it  ciTectual,  which  ought  therefore  to 
be  earnestly  and  incessantly  implored  for  that  pur- 
pose. Ojjen  mine  eyes,  saith  the  Psalmist,  and  I 
shall  behold  wonderful  things  out  of  thy  law,  AV'e 
trust  it  will  be  your  care  who  have  the  conduct  of 
the  School  we  are  recommending  to  the  patronage 
of  this  audience,  lo  impress  on  these  children  a  duep 


SIS 

conviction  of  their  radical  corruption,  and  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  agency  of  the  spirit,  to  render  the 
knowledge  they  acquire,  practical  and  experimen- 
tal. In  the  morning  sow  your  seed^  in  the  evening 
withhold  not  your  hand  ;  but  remember  that  neither 
he  that  soiveth,  nor  he  that  water eth,  is  any  thing,  it 
is  God  that  giveth  the  increase.  Be  not  satisfied 
with  making  them  read  a  lesson,  or  repeat  a  prayer. 
By  every  thing  tender  and  solemn  in  religion,  hy  a 
due  admixture  of  the  awful  considerations  drawn 
from  the  prospect  of  death  and  judgment,  with 
others  of  a  more  pleasing  nature,  aim  to  fix  serious 
impressions  on  their  hearts.  Aim  to  produce  a  re- 
ligious concern,  carefully  watch  its  progress,  and 
endeavour  to  conduct  it  to  a  prosperous  issue. 
Lead  them  to  the  footstool  of  the  Saviour,  teach 
them  to  rely,  as  guilty  creatures,  on  his  merits 
alone,  and  to  commit  their  eternal  interests  entire- 
ly into  his  hands.  Let  the  salvation  of  these  chil- 
dren be  the  object,  to  which  every  word  of  your  in- 
structions, every  exertion  of  your  authority,  is  di- 
rected. Despise  the  profane  clamour,  which  would 
deter  you  from  attempting  to  render  them  serious, 
from  an  apprehension  of  its  making  them  melan- 
choly, not  doubting  for  a  moment,  that  the  fear 
of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,  and  that 
the  path  to  true  happiness  lies  through  purity,  hu- 
mility, and  devotion.  Meditate  the  worth  of  souls  : 
meditate  deeply  the  lessons  the  Scriptures  afford  on 
their   inconceivable    value   and   eternal    duration. 


213 

While  the  philosopher  wearies  himself  with  end- 
less speculations  on  their  physical  properties  and 
nature,  while  the  politician  only  contemplates  the 
social  arrangements  of  mankind  and  the  shifting 
forms  of  policy,  fix  ijour  attention  on  the  individual 
importance  of  man,  as  the  creature  of  God,  and  a 
candidate  for  immortality.  Let  it  be  your  highest 
ambition  to  train  up  these  children  for  an  unchang- 
ing condition  of  being.  Spare  no  pains  to  recover 
them  to  the  image  of  God  ;  render  familiar  to  their 
minds,  in  all  its  extent,  the  various  branches  of  that 
hgl'iness,  without  which  none  shall  see  tJie  Lord. 
Incu^lcate  the  obligation,  and  endeavour  to  inspire 
the  love  of  that  rectitude,  that  eternal  rectitude, 
which  T^^  with  God  before  time  began,  was  em- 
bodied in  the  person  of  liis  Son,  and  in  its  lower  com- 
munications, will  survive  every  sublunary  change, 
emerge  in  the  dissolution  of  all  things,  and  be  im- 
pressed, in  refulgent  characters,  on  the  new  heavens 
and  the  new  earth,  in  ivhich  dwelleth  righteousness. 
Pray  often  with  them,  and  for  them,  and  remind 
them  of  the  inconceivable  advantages  attached  to 
that  exercise.  Accustom  them  to  a  punctual  and 
reverential  attendance  at  the  house  of  God  :  insist 
on  their  sanctiiication  of  the  Sabbath,  by  such  a  dis- 
posal of  time,  as  is  suitable  to  a  day  of  rest  and  de- 
votion. Survey  them  with  a  vigilant  and  tender 
eye,  checking  every  appearance  of  an  evil  and  de- 
praved disposition  the  moment  it  springs  up,  and 
encouraging  ttie  dawn  of  piety  and  virtue.     By  thus 


314 


training  them  up  in  the  waythey  should  go ^  yon  may 
reason a]^y  hop&  that  when  old,  they  will  not  depart 
from  it.  ^ 


JWe  congratulate  the  nation,  on  the  extent  of  the 
XeJOFortgieinployeil,  and  ^g  means  set  on  foot,  for 
^the  fmp^vementyof  tln^j^er  classes,  and  especi- 
,  ally  the  ci^iWriBn  of  the  poor,  in  moral  and  religious 
kno\vledge^^^^\  whi(^  we   hope  much  ;good  will 

parties  concern^_,  but  to  the 
hese  are  the  lj|^iiest,  or  ra- 
ents  that  can  ^fe  adopted, 
pulace ;  ai 
11  m  tliel^ure,  IB  which  s 
yramid,  it  is  oiij^mem  it^ 
chiefly  depends:  the  elaborate  on^^uit  mthe 
willlbe  a  w  retched  compensation  for 
solidity  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  structure.  These 
are  not  the  times,  in  which  it  is  safe  for  a  nation 
to  repose  on  the  lap  of  ignorance.  If  there  ever 
were  a  season,  when  public  tranquillity  was  en- 
sured by  the  absence  of  knowledge,  that  season  is 
past.  The  convulsed  state  of  the  world  will  not 
permit  unthinking  stupidity  to  sleep,  without  being 
appalled  by  phantoms,  and  shaken  by  terrors,  tu 
"which  reason,  which  defines  her  objects  and  limits 
her  apprehensions,  by  the  reality  of  things,  is  a 
stranger.  Every  thing  in  the  condition  of  mankind, 
announces  the  approach  of  some  great  crisis,  for 
which  nothing  can  prepare  us  but  the  diffusion  of 


S15 

knowledge,  probity,  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 
While  the  world  i;^  impelled,  with  such  violence, 
in  opposite  directions  ;  while  a  spirit  of  s;iddiness 
and  rajiolt  is  shed  upon  the  nations,  and  the  seeds 
of  mutation  are  so  thickly  sown,  the  improvement 
of  the  mass  of  the  people  will  he  our  grand  security, 
in  the  neglect  of  whicli  the  politeness,  the  refine- 
ment, and  the  knowledge  accumulated  in  the  higher 
orders,  weak  and  unprotected,  will  be  exposed  to 
imminent  danger,  and  perish  like  a  garland  in  the 
grasp  of  popular  fury.  Wisdom  and  knowledge 
shall  be  the  stability  of  thy  times,  and  strength  of 
salvation^  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  his  treasure. 


On  the  Discouragements  and  supports  of  th» 
Christian  Ministry^ 


DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  TO  THE 

REV.  JAMES  ROBERTSON, 

AT 

HIS  ORDINATION 

OVER  THE  INDEPENDENT  CHURCH,  AT  STRETTON, 

WARWICKSHIRE. 


BY  ROBERT  HALL,  A.  M. 


FROM    THE    LATEST    LONDON    EDITION. 


2S 


WITH  SENTIMENTS  OF  THE  HIGHEST  ESTEEM, 

THE  FOLLOWINO 

DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  AT  HIS  REQUEST, 

IS  IVSCRIBEn  TO 

THE  REV.  JAMES  ROBERTSON, 

BY    HIS 

AFFECTIONATE  FRIEND 
AND  BROTHER, 

THE  .UTTffOn. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  Discourse  would  sooner  have 
made  its  appearance,  but  for  circumstances  in  which 
the  Public  arc  too  little  interested,  to  render  it 
necessary  or  proper  for  me  to  explain  them :  nor 
should  I  have  adverted  to  the  time  of  its  publica- 
tion, did  it  not  seem  strange  that,  having  been 
preached  on  a  public  occasion,  it  should  be  com- 
mitted to  the  press  more  than  a  twelve  month  after 
the  delivery. 

With  respect  to  the  Sermon  itself,  the  author 
begs  leave  to  bespeak  the  indulgence  of  his  readers 
for  introducing  sentiments  with  which  they  must 
be  perfectly  familiar,  requesting  them  to  recollect 
that,  on  practical  subjects,  the  most  common  thoughts 
are  usually  the  most  important,  and  that  originality 
is  the  last  quality  we  seek  for  in  advice.  If  it 
have  any  tendency  to  do  good  beyond  the  occasion 
of  its  delivery,  by  remindiug  my  highly-esteemed 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  of  the  duties  and  obliga- 
tion attached  to  their  sacred  function,  the  end  pro- 
posed will  be  answered.  The  worthy  person  to 
whom  it  was  addressed,   gave  a  specimen  of  hi« 


SSS  PREFACE. 

liberality,  in  engaging  me  to  take  so  leading  a  part 
in  his  ordination,  Avhen  our  difference  of  sentiment 
on  the  subject  of  Baptism  was  well  known  ;  a  sub- 
ject which  has,  unhappily,  been  a  frequent  occa- 
sion of  alienating  the  minds  of  Christians  from  each 
other.     How   much   is  it  to  be  lamented,  that  the 
Christian  world  should  be  so  violently  agitated  by 
disputes,  and  divided  into  factions,  on  points,  which, 
it  is  allowed,  in  whatever  way   they  are   decided, 
do   not  enter  into  the  essentials  of  Christianity. 
When   will  the  time  arrive,  when  the   disciples  of 
Christ  shall  cordially  join  hand  and  heart  with  all 
who  hold  the  head,  and  no  other  terms  of  communion 
be  insisted  upon  in  any  church,  but  what  are  ne- 
cessary to  constitute  a  real  Christian.     The  depar- 
ture from  a  principle  so  directly  resulting  from  the 
genius  of  Christianity,  and  so  evidently  inculcated 
and  implied  in  the  sacred   Scriptures,   has,   in  my 
apprehension,  been  productive  of  infinite  mischief ; 
nor  is  there   room    to  anticipate  the  period  of   the 
universal  diffusion  and  triumph  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, but  in  consequence  of  its  being  completely 
renounced  and  abandoned. 

What  can  be  more  repugnant  to  the  beautiful  idea 
which  our  Saviour  gives  us  of  his  church,  as  one 
fold  under  one  shepherd,  than  the  present  aspect  of 
Christendom,  split  into  separate  and  hostile  com- 
munions, frowning  defiance  on  each  other,  where 
each  erects  itself  upon  j^arty  principleSf  and  selects 


PREFACE.  833 

its  respective  watcli-woid  of  contention,  as  though 
the  epithet  of  militant,  when  applied  to  tlie  church, 
were  designed  to  announce,  not  a  state  of  conflict 
with  the  powers  of  darkness,  but  of  irreconcileable 
intestine  warfare  and  opposition.  But  it  is  necessa- 
ry to  quit  a  subject  which,  though  painfully  inter- 
esting, would  necessarily  lead  to  reflections  incon- 
sistent with  the  limits  of  this  preface.  It  may  be 
more  to  the  purpose  to  remark,  that  the  substance 
of  the  following  discourse  was  delivered  in  London, 
at  the  anniversary  of  an  academical  institution,  re- 
cently established  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  me- 
tropolis, for  educating  young  men  for  the  ministry 
in  the  Baptist  denomination.  The  institution  to 
which  we  refer,  is  under  the  immediate  superin- 
tendance  of  the  Rev.  William  Newman,  I  cannot 
let  the  present  occasion  pass,  of  earnestly  and  re- 
spectfully recommending  this  infant  seminary  to  the 
patronage  of  the  religious  Pulilic.  There  was  a 
time,  we  are  aware,  when  doubts  were  entertained, 
in  some  serious  mind^,  of  the  elegibilily  of  training 
young  men  for  the  ministry,  by  a  prepat'atory  course 
of  study.  These  scruples,  we  believe,  have  long 
since  subsided,  and  a  conviction  felt  by  intelligent 
men  of  all  denominations,  of  the  expedience,  if  not 
the  necessity,  of  instructing  candidates  for  the  min- 
istry in  the  principles  of  science  and  literature. 
Learning  is  no  longer  dreaded  as  tlie  enemy  of 
piety  ;  nor  is  it  supposed  that  the  orthodoxy  of 
a  public  teacher  of  religion  derives  any  security 


S24  PREFACE. 

from  his  professed  ignorance  on  every  other  subject. 
Along  with  this  revolution  in  the  sentiments  of  a  cer- 
tain class  of  Christians,  circumstances  have  arisen, 
connected  with  the  more  general  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge and  the  state  of  society,  which  render  a  higher 
degree    of  mental  cultivation  than  was  heretofore 
needed,  indispensably  requisite.     The  Baptist  de- 
nomination, in  common  with  other  Christians,  have 
not  failed  to   advert  to  this  urgent  and  increasing 
demand  for  cultivated  talent  in  their  ministers,  al- 
though they  have  long  had  occasion  to  lament  the 
scantiness  and  inadequacy  of  their  means  of  supply- 
ing it.     To  the  Bristol  Academy,  the  only  seminary 
they  possessed  till  within  these  few  years,  they  feel 
the  highest  obligations,   for  supplying  them  with   a 
succession  of  able  and  faithful  pastors,  who  have 
done  honour  to    their  ciiurches  :    and  few   things 
would    give    the    patrons    and    founders    of   the 
seminary,   for   which    I   am  pleading,   more    con- 
cern,   than    the    suspicion  of    entertaining   views 
unfavourable  to    that    academy.        They   respect 
its  claim  of  seniority  ;    they  revere  the  character  of 
its  excellent  President ;  they  contemplate,  with  the 
highest  satisfaction,  the  beneficial  result  of  its  ope- 
rations, conspicuous  in  most  partsof  the  kingdom  : — 
but  tliey  are  too  well  acquainted  with  the  disinter- 
ested motives  of  its  friends  and  benefactors,  to  sus- 
pect them  of  wishing  to  monopolize  the  education  of 
ministers  connected  with  the  denomination.     They 
feel  as  little  jealousy  of  the  seminary  recently  es- 


PREFACE.  225 

established  in  Yorkshire,  which  has  already  pro- 
duced good  fruitg,  under  the  culture  and  superin- 
tendance  of  the  excellent  Mr.  Steadman.  Con- 
vinced, however,  of  there  being  still  occasion  for 
an  enlargement  of  the  means  of  instruction,  and 
having  by  the  munificence  of  a  generous  individual, 
been  presented  with  a  house  and  premises  well 
adapted  to  academical  purposes,  they  could  feel  no 
hesitation  in  accepting  so  noble  a  gift,  or  in  second- 
ing the  pious  and  benevolent  design  of  the  founder. 
The  institution  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  subsists  on 
a  small  scale.  They  look  to  the  smiles  of  Heaven 
and  to  the  liberality  of  a  Christian  Public,  and, 
espexiially  to  the  piety  and  opulence  of  the  pro- 
fessors of  religion  in  the  metropolis,  who  have  never 
been  wanting  in  the  zealous  support  of  institutionis 
tending  to  promote  the  glory  of  God  and  the  best 
interest  of  mankind,  for  such  an  enlargement  of 
their  funds  and  resources  as,  seconded  by  the  ef- 
forts of  its  worthy  tutor,  shall  render  it  a  perma- 
nent and  extensive  blessing. 

Leicester,  December  31,  ISll. 


S9 


DISCOURAGEMENTS 

AND 

SUPPORTS,  &c. 


2  CORINTHIANS,  IV.  1. 

THEREFORE,  SEEING  WE  HAVE  THIS  MINISTRY,  AS  \VK 
HAVE  RECEIVED  MERCY,  WE  FAINT  NOT. 


As  you  have  requested  me  to  address  you  upon 
the  present  occasion,  I  am  persuaded  you  will  deem 
no  apology  necessary  for  the  use  of  that  freedom 
which  the  nature  of  the  service  to  which  you  have 
invited  me  demands,  combined  with  those  senti- 
ments of  high  esteem  which  your  character  will 
always  inspire.  Havings  with  the  accustomed 
solemnities,  been  invested  with  the  pastoral  office 
over  this  church,  you  will  permit  me  to  remind  you 
of  the  discouragements  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
suj)ports  on  the  other,  which  you  may  reasonably 
look  for  in  your  ministerial  warfare,  as  far  as  they 
are  naturally  suggested  to  us  by  the  passage  of 
Scripture  selected  for  the  basis  of  our  present  dis- 
course.  ^^^^ 


228 

If  it  is  necessary  for  the  private  Christian,  before 
he  assumes  a  religious  profession,  to  count  the  cost ; 
to  the  minister  it  cannot  be  less  so,  that  he  may  not 
be  surprised  by  unexpected  trials,  nor  dismayed  at 
the  encounter  of  difficulties  for  whicli  he  has  made 
no  preparation.  A  just  estimate  of  the  nature  and 
magnitude  is  an  important  qualification  for  the  pro- 
per discliarge  of  whatever  function  we  are  called  ta 
exert.  As  you  are  neither  a  novice  in  the  ministry, 
nor  have  failed  to  reflect  deeply  on  the  consequences 
of  your  present  engagements,  you  will  not  suspect 
me  of  attempting,  by  the  hints  which  may  be  sug- 
gested, to  give  you  information,  but  merely  to  stir 
up  your  pure  mind  by  way  of  remembrance. 

1.  Let  me  request  your  attention  to  the  sources 
<5f  discouragement  connected  with  the  office  you 
have  undertaken.  They  are  such  as  arise,  in  part, 
from  the  nature  of  the  office  itself,  which  is  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose  of  converting  souls  to  God, 
and  conducting  them  in  the  path  to  eternal  life. 
To  you,  in  common  with  other  Christian  pastors, 
is  committed  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  the  office 
of  promulgating  that  system  of  truth  which  is  de- 
signed to  renew  the  world,  and  sanctify  the  church. 
Under,  the  highest  authority  you  are  enjoined  to  use 
your  utmost  eifoiis  to  open  blind  eyes,  to  turn  them 
from  darJcness  to  ligJit,  and  from  the  poiver  of  Satan 
unto  God.  The  bare  mention  of  such  an  employ- 
Bicnt  is  enough  to  convince  us  the  difficulties  atten- 
ding it  are  of  no  ordinary  magnitude,  and  to  maka 


9S9 

us  exclaim  with  an  Apostle,  Who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things  ? 

1.  The  minds  of  men  are  naturally  iuilisposed 
to  the  reception  of  divine  truth.  The  truths  of  the 
gos^pel  are  not  merely  of  a  speculative  nature, 
"which  need  only  to  be  stated  with  their  proper  evi- 
dence in  order  to  ensure  their  success :  there  are 
in  the  mind  latent  prejudices  against  which  they 
strongly  militate,  and  which,  when  excited,  natural- 
ly produce  opposition.  Mankind  are  disposed  to 
think  well  of  themselves,  to  view  their  virtues 
through  a  magnifying  medium,  and  to  cast  their 
deficiencies  and  vices  into  the  shade.  Dissatisfied, 
as  they  often  are,  with  their  outward  condition,  they 
have  yet  little  or  no  conviction  of  their  spiritual 
wants ;  but  with  respect  to  these  are  ready  to  im- 
agine, with  the  Laodiceans,  that  they  are  rich  and 
increased  in  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing. 
Hence,  it  is  with  extreme  difficulty  they  are  brought 
to  acquiesce  in  the  humiliating  representations  made 
by  the  oracles  of  God,  of  their  native  guilt  and  mis- 
cry.  They  will  readily  confess  they  are  not  per- 
fectly innocent  or  faultless  :  they  have  their  imper- 
fections as  well  as  others,  but  they  ar^'far  from  be- 
lieving that  they  are  actually  under  the  wrath  and 
displeasure  of  the  Almightj\  They  feel,  on  the 
whole,  satisfied  with  themselves,  and,  by  setting 
their  supposed  good  qualities  and  actions  against 
their  bad  ones,  contrive  to  adjust  their  account  in 


330 

such  a  manner  as  leaves  a  considerable  balance  in 
their  favour.  On  the  mercy  of  God  they  feel  no 
objection  to  profess  their  reliance  ;  deeming  it  more 
decent,  and  even  more  safe,  than  to  challenge  his 
justice  ;  but  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  the  mercy  of 
Avhich  they  speak,  is  of  such  a  nature,  that  they 
would  look  upon  it  as  an  absurdity  to  suppose  it 
could  be  withheld.  In  short,  they  are  the  whole 
who  need  no  physician. 

The  gospel  presupposes  a  charge  of  guilt;  it  as- 
sumes, as  an  indubitable  fact,  the  universal 
apostacy  of  our  race,  and  its  consequent  liabil- 
ity to  perish  under  the  stroke  of  the  divine  anger; 
nor  can  you  acquit  yourself  of  the  imputation  of 
handling  the  word  of  God  deceitfully,  if,  from  false 
delicacy,  or  mistaken  tenderness,  you  neglect  the 
frequent  incalcatlon  of  tliis  momentous  truth.  You 
will  find  it,  however,  no  easy  matter  to  fasten  the 
charge  on  the  conscience  ;  which,  when  it  seems  to 
be  admitted,  will  often  amount  to  nothing  more  than 
*a  vague  and  general  acknowledgment,  whicli  leaves 
the  heart  qv/ite  unaffected.  To  convince  effectually 
is,  indeed,  the  work  of  a  superior  agent. 

3.  The  very  attempt  to  produce  that  humiliating 
sense  of  nnworthiness  and  weakness,  which  is  es- 
sential to  a  due  reception  of  the  gospel,  will  fre- 
quently excite  disgust,  should  it  terminate  in  no 
worse  consequences.     You  will  be  reproached  as 


231 

the  messenger  of  evil  tidings,  and  suftpected  of  tali - 
inga  pleasure  in  overwhelming  the  soul  witli  dark 
and  melancholy  forebodings.  By  a  part  of  your 
hearers  you  will  possibly  be  regarded  as  an  unnat- 
ural character,  and  as  having  in  your  religion  a  tinct- 
ure of  what  is  savage  and  inhuman  ;  in  consequence 
of  which,  they  who  refuse  to  profit  by  your  admo- 
nitions, will  be  apt  to  apply  to  you  the  language  of 
the  king  of  Israel,  I  hate  Vun^for  he  ahvciya  projjhe- 
sieth  evil  of  me  and  not  ^-ood.  Of  the  common  apos- 
tacy,  one  of  the  most  distinguishing  features  is  a 
stupefaction,  an  insensibility  in  relation  to  whatever 
is  of  a  spiritual  nature,  together  with  a  levity  and 
carelessness  which  it  requires  the  utmost  effort  of 
the  Christian  ministry  to  dispel. 

3.  If  you  should  be  successful  in  awakening  a 
salutary  concern  in  the  breasts  of  your  hearers,  and 
exciting  them  to  inquire  what  they  must  do  to  be 
saved,  fresh  difficulties  await  you.  The  enemy 
■will  leave  no  artifice  untried  to  divert  it,  and  {■>  w  ear 
it  off,  by  such  a  succession  of  cares  and  vanities, 
that  as  much  attention  and  address  will  be  requi- 
site to  maintain  it  till  it  issues  in  a  saving,  effect,  as 
to  produce  it  at  first.  There  are  many,  w  ho  after 
appearing  for  a  time  earnestly  engaged  in  the  pur- 
suit of  salvation,  have  in  consequence  of  stifling  con- 
victions, become  more  callous  and  insensible  than 
ever,  as  iron  is  hardened  in  the  fire.  The  grand 
scope  of  the  Christian  ministry  is  to  bring  men  home 


2B% 

to  Clirist;  but  ere  they  arrive  thither,  there  are  iiu- 
Bierous  by-paths,  into  which  those  who  are  awaken- 
ed are  in  danger  of  diverting,  and  of  finding  a  delu- 
sive repose,  without  coming  as  humble  penitents  to 
the  foot  of  the  cross.  They  are  equally  in  danger 
of  catching  at  premature  consolation,  and  of  sinking 
into  listless  despondency.  Withhold  thy  throat 
from  thirstf  said  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  and  thy 
foot  from  being  unshod;  but  thou  saidst,  there  is 
no  hope,  for  I  have  loved  strangers,  and  after  them 
I  must  go.  In  the  pursuit  of  eternal  good,  the  heart 
is  extremely  inconstant  and  irresolute  ;  easily  pre- 
vailed on,  w  hen  the  peace  it  is  in  quest  of  is  delayed, 
to  desist  from  further  seeking.  During  the  first  se- 
rious impressions,  the  light,  which  unveils  futurity, 
often  shines  with  too  feeble  a  ray  to  produce  that 
perfect  and  plenary  conviction  which  permits  the 
mind  no  longer  to  vaccilate  :  and  the  fascination  of 
sensible  objects,  eclipses  the  powers  of  the  world 
to  come.  Nor  is  there  less  to  be  apprehended  from 
another  quarter.  The  conscience,  roused  to  a  just 
sense  of  the  danger  to  which  the  sinner  is  exposed 
by  his  violation  of  the  laws  of  God,  is  apt  to  derive 
consolation  from  this  very  uneasiness  ;  by  which 
means  it  is  possible  that  the  alarm,  which  is  chiefly 
valuable  on  account  of  its  tendency  to  produce  a 
consent  to  the  overtures  of  the  gospel,  may  ultimate- 
ly lull  the  mind  into  a  deceitful  repose.  The 
number  we  fear  is  not  small,  of  those,  who,  though 
Ihcy  have  never  experienced  a  saving  change,  are 


ytt  under  no  apprehensions  respecting  tlieir  state, 
merely  because  they  can  remember  the  time  when 
Uiey  felt  poignant  convictions.  Mistaking  wliat  are 
usually  the  preliminary  steps  to  conversion,  for  con- 
version itself,  they  deduce  from  their  former  appre- 
hensions an  antidote  against  present  fears  ;  and  from 
past  prognostics  of  danger,  an  omen  of  their  future 
safety.  With  persons  of  this  description  the  flash- 
cs  of  a  superficial  joy,  arising  from  a  presumption 
of  being  already  pardoned,  accompanied  with  some 
slight  and  transient  relishes  of  the  word  of  God,  are 
substituted  for  tliat  new  birth,  and  that  lively  trust 
in  the  Redeemer,  to  which  the  promise  of  salvation 
inseparably  belongs.  Such  were  those  who  receiv- 
ed  the  seed  into  stony  ground,  and  who  having 
heard  the  word  of  God  anon  trith  joy  received  it, 
but  having  no  depth  of  earth  it  soon  ivitheredaicay. 
Others  ende  avour  to  sooth  the  anguish  of  their  minds 
by  a  punctual  performance  of  certain  religious  ex- 
ercises, and  a  partial  reformation,  of  conduct ;  in 
consequence  of  which  they  sink  into  mere  formalists  ; 
and  confounding  the  instruments  of  religion  with  the 
end,  their  apparent  melioration  of  character  diverts 
their  attention  from  their  real  wants,  and,  liy  making 
them  insensible  of  the  extent  of  their  malady,  ob- 
structs their  cure.  Instead  of  imploring  the  assist- 
ance of  the  great  Physician,  and  implicitly  comply- 
ing with  his  prescriptions,  they  have  recourse  to  pal- 
liatives, which  assuage  the  anguish  and  the  smart, 

30 


234  ../ 

without  reaching  the  seat,  or  touching  the  core  of 
tlie  disoriler. 

Were  the  change,  which  the  gospel  proposes 
to  effect,  less  fumlamental  and  extensive  than  it 
is,  we  might  the  more  easily  flatter  ourselves  with 
being  able  to  carry  its  designs  into  execution.  Did 
it  aim  merely  to  polish  the  exterior,  to  tame  the 
wildness,  and  prune  the  luxuriance  of  nature,  with- 
out the  implantation  of  a  new  principle,  the  under- 
taking would  be  less  arduous.  But  its  scope  is 
much  higher  ;  it  proposes  not  merely  to  reform,  but 
to  renew  ;  not  so  much  to  repair  the  moral  edifice, 
as  to  build  it  afresh  ;  not  merely  by  the  remonstran- 
ces of  reason,  and  the  dictates  of  prudence,  to  en- 
gage men  to  lay  a  restraint  upon  their  vices,  but,  by 
the  inspiration  of  truth,  to  become  new  creatures. 
The  effects  of  the  gospel  on  the  heart,  are  compared, 
by  the  prophet,  to  tlie  planting  of  a  wilderness, 
where  wliat  was  barrenness  and  desolation  before, 
is  replenished  with  new  productions,  J  will  plant 
in  the  wilderness  Hie  cedar-tree,  the  shittah-tree, 
and  th-e  myrtle-tree  ;  I  will  set  in  the  desert,  the  fir- 
tree*  the  j)inp-tree,  and  the  box -tree  together  y  that 
they  may  know,  and  consider,  and  understand,  that 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  hath  done  this.  Although  the 
change  is  frequently  slow,  and  the  Spirit  of  God, 
in  affecting  it,  may  proceed  by  imperceptible  steps, 
and  gentle  insinuations,  the  issue  is  invariably  the 
same,  nor  can  any  representation   do  justice  to  its 


235 

di«'*nity.     How  great  tlie  sIvlU  requisite  in  those  who 
are  to  be  the  instruments  of  jiroducing  it ! 

To  arrest  the  attention  of  the  careless,  to  subdue 
the  pride  and  soften  the  obduracy  of  the  human 
heart,  so  that  it  shall  stoop  to  the  authority  of  an  un- 
seen Saviour,  is  a  task  which  surpasses  the  utmost 
efforts  of  human  ability,  unaided  l)y  a  superior  pow- 
er. In  attempting  to  realize  the  design  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry,  we  are  proposing  to  call  the  attention 
of  men  from  the  things  wliich  are  seen  and  tem- 
poral, to  things  unseen  and  eternal ;  to  eoudwi  them 
from  a  life  of  sense,  to  a  life  of  faith  ;  to  subdue,  or 
weaken  at  least,  tlie  influence  of  a  world,  which, 
being  always  present,  is  incessantly  appealing  to 
the  senses,  and  soliciting  the  heart,  in  favour  gf  a 
state,  whose  very  existence  is  ascertained  only  by 
testimony.  We  call  upon  them  to  crucify  the  ilcsh 
with  its  affections  and  lusts,  to  deny  the  strongest 
and  most  inveterate  propensities,  and  to  renounce 
the  enjoyments  which  they  have  tasted  and  felt,  for 
the  sake  of  a  happiness  to  which  they  have  no  relish. 
We  must  charge  them,  as  they  value  their  salvation, 
not  to  love  the  world,  who  have  been  accustomed 
to  make  it  the  sole  object  of  their  attachment,  and 
to  return  to  their  allegiance  to  that  almighty  and  in- 
visible Ruler  from  whom  they  have  deeply  revolted. 
We  present  to  them,  it  is  true,  a  feast  of  fat  thing* 
•f  wine  on  the  lees  well  refined  ;  we  invite  them  ta 
entertainments  more  ample  and  exquisite^  than,  but 


S36 

for  the  gospol,  it  had  entered  into  the  heart  of  man 
to  conceive  ;  but  we  address  our  invitations  to  minds 
fatally  indisposed,  alienated  from  the  life  of  God, 
with  little  sense  of  the  value  of  his  favour,  and  no 
delight  in  his  converse.  The  souls  we  address, 
though  originally  formed  for  these  enjoyments,  and 
utterly  incapable  of  being  happy  without  them,  have 
lost,  through  the  fall,  that  right  taste  and  apprelien- 
sioa  of  things,  which  is  requisite  for  the  due  appre- 
ciation of  these  blessings,  and,  likeEzckiel,  we  pro- 
phesy to  dry  bones  in  the  valley  of  Vision,  which 
will  never  live  but  under  the  visitation  of  that  breath 
which  bloweth  were  it  listeth.  This  indisposition 
to  the  things  of  God,  so  radical  and  incurable  by 
human  power,  as  it  has  been  a  frequent  source  of 
discouragement  to  the  faithful  minister,  so  it  would 
prove  an  invincible  obstacle  to  success,  did  that  suc- 
cess depend  upon  human  agency. 

II.  To  these  diflTiculiies,  which  arise  from  the 
nature  of  the  work,  abstractedly  considered,  must 
he  added,  those  which  are  modified  by  a  variety  of 
circumstances,  and  which  result  from  tliat  diversity 
of  temper,  character,  and  situation,  which  prevails 
in  our  auditory.  To  the  several  Masses  of  wliich 
it  consists,  it  is  necessary  rightly  to  divide  the  word 
of  truth,  and  give  to  every  one  his  portion  of  vieat 
in  due  season.  The  epidemic  malady  of  our  nature 
assumes  so  many  shapes,  and  appears  under  such 
a  variety  of  symptoms,  that  these  may  be  considere<l 


as  so  many  distiuct  diseases,  which  demand  a  pro 
portionate  variety  in  tlie  method  of  treatment ;  nor 
will  the  same  prescription  suit  all  cases.     A  difl'er- 
ent  set  of  truths,  a  different  mode  of  address  is  re- 
quisite to  rouse  the  careless,  to  heat  down  the  arro- 
gance of  a  self-justifying  spirit,  from  what  is  ne- 
cessary to  comfort  the  humhle  and  contrite  in  heart ; 
nor  is  it  easy   to  say,  which  we   should  most  anx- 
iously guard  against,  the  infusion  of  a  false  peace, 
or   inflaming  the  wounds   which   we  ought  to  heal. 
A  loose  and  indiscriminate  manner  of  applying  the 
promises   and   threatenings   of  the   gospel,   is   ill- 
judged   and   pernicious;  it  is  not  possihle  to  con- 
ceive a   more    effectual   method   of   depriving  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  of  its  edge,  than  adopting  that 
lax  generality  of  representation,   which  leaves  its 
hearer   nothing  to   apply,  presents  no  incentive  to 
self-examination,  and,  besides  its  utter  inefficiency, 
disgusts  by  the  ignorance  of  human   nature,  or  the 
disregard  to  its  bests  interests,  it  infallibly  betrays. 
Without  descending  to  such  a  minute  specification 
of  circumstances,  as  shall  make  our  addresses  per- 
sonal, they  ought  unquestionably  to  be  characteris- 
tic, that  the  conscience  of  the  audience  may  feel  the 
hand  of  the  preacher  searching  it,  and  every  indi- 
vidual know  where  to  class  himself.     The  preacher 
who  aims  at  doing  good  will  endeavour,  above  all 
things,  to  insulate  his  hearers,  to  place  each  of  them 
apart,   and  render  it  impossible  for  him  to  escape 
by  losing  himself  in  the  crowd.     At  the  day  of 


» 


S38 

jiulgmeiit,  the  attention  excited  hy  the  surroundin 
scene,  the  strange  aspect  of  nature,  the  dissolution 
of  the  elements,  and  the  last  trump,  will  have  no 
olher  effect  than  to  cause  the  reflections  of  the  sin. 
iier  to  iclurn  witli  a  more  over\\  helming  tide  on  his 
own  cliaracter,  Ijis  sentence,  his  unchanging  desti- 
ny ;  and,  amid  the  innumerable  millions  who  sur- 
round him,  he  Avill  mourn  apart.  It  is  thus  the 
Christian  minister  should  endeavour  to  prepare  the 
tribunal  of  conscience,  and  turn  th.e  eyes  of  every 
one  of  his  hearers  on  himself. 

To  men  of  dilferent  casts  and  complexions,  it  is 
obvious,  a  corresponding  difference  in  the  selection 
of  topics,   and   the  method  of  appeal,  is  requisite. 
Some  are  only  capable  of  digesting  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  religion,  on  whom  it  is  necessary  often  to 
inculcate  the  same  lessons,   with  the  reiteration  of 
parental  solicitude  :  there  are  others  of  a  wider  grasp 
of  comprehension,  who  must  be  indulged  with  an 
ampler  variety,  and  to  whom  views  of  neligion  less 
obvious,  less   obtrusive,  and   demanding   a    more 
vigorous  exercise  of  the  understanding,  are  peculi- 
arly  adapted.     Some  are  accustomed   to  contem- 
plate every  subject  in  a  light  so  cool  and  argumen- 
tative, that  they  are  not  easily  impressed  with  any 
thing  which  is  not  presented  in  the  garb  of  reason- 
ing; nor  apt,  though  firm  believers  in  Revelation, 
to  be  strongly  moved  by  naked  assertions  even  from 
that  quarter.     There  are  others  of  a  softer  tempera- 


889 

ment,  who  are  more  easily  won  by  tender  strokes  of 
pathos.  Minds  of  an  obdurate  make,  and  which 
have  been  rendered  callous  by  long  habits  of  vice, 
must  be  appalled  and  subdued  by  the  terrors  of  the 
Lord  ;  while  others  are  capable  of  being  drawn 
with  the  cords  of  love,  and  icith  the  bands  of  a  man. 
Some  we  must  save  with  fear,  plucking  them  out  of 
the  f  re  ;  on  others  we  must  have  compassion,  mak- 
ing a  difference.  You  will  recollect,  that  he  who 
spake  as  never  man  spake,  mild,  gentle,  iusinuat- 
ing  in  his  addresses  to  the  multitude,  reserved  the 
thunder  of  his  denunciations  for  sanctimonious 
hypocrites.  In  this  part  of  our  ministerial  func- 
tion, we  shall  do  well  to  imitate  St.  Paul,  who 
became  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he  might  win 
some  ;  combining,  in  his  efforts  for  the  salvation  of 
souls,  the  utmost  simplicity  of  intention,  with  the 
utmost  versatility  of  address. 

May  I  be  permitted  to  remark,  though  it  seem  a 
digression,  that  in  the  mode  of  conducting  our  pub- 
lic ministrations,  we  are,  perhaps,  too  formal  and 
mechanical ;  that,  in  the  distribution  of  the  matter 
of  our  sermons,  we  indulge  too  little  variety,  and 
exposing  our  plan  in  all  its  parts,  abate  t^te  edge 
of  curiosity,  by  enabling'the  hearer  to  anticipate 
what  we  intend  to  advance.  Why  should  that 
force  which  surprise  gives  to  every  emotion,  deriv- 
ed from  just  and  affecting  sentiments,  be  bakiished 
from  the  pulpit,  when  it  is   found  of  such   moment 


S40 

111  every  other  kind  of   public  address.     I  cannot 
but  imagine   the  first   preachers  of  the  gospel  ap- 
peared before  their  audience  with  a  more  free   and 
unfettered    air,  than   is   consistent  with  the  narrow 
trammels  to  which,  in  these  latter    ages,  discourses 
from  the   pulpit  are  confined.     The  sublime  emo- 
tions with  which  they  were  fraught,  would  have  ren- 
dered them  impatient  of  such  restrictions  ;  nor  could 
they   suffer   the  impetuous  stream  of  argument,  ex- 
postulation, and   pathos,    to  be  weakened,  by  di- 
verting it  into  the  artificial  reservoirs,  prepared  in 
the  heads  and   particulars   of   a   modern    sermon. 
Method,  we    are    aware,  is  an  essential  ingredient 
in  every  discourse  designed  for  the   instruction  of 
mankind,  but   it  ought  never   to  force  itself  on  the 
attention  as  an  object  apart ;  never  appear  to  be  an 
end,  instead  of  an  instrument;  or  beget  a  suspicion 
of  the  sentiments  being  introduced  for  the   sake  of 
the  method,  not  the  method  for  the  sentiments.     Let 
the  experiment  be  tried  on  some  of  the  best  speci- 
mens of  ancient  eloquence  ;  let  an  oration  of  Cicero 
or  Demosthenes  be  stretched  upon  a  Procrustes'  bed 
of  this  sort,  and,  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  the 
flame  and  enthusiasm  which  have  excited  admira- 
tion in  all  ages,  will  instantly  evaporate  :  yet  no  one 
perceives  a  want  of  method  in  these  immortal  com- 
positions, nor  can  any  thing  be  conceived  more  re- 
mote from  incoherent  rhapsody. 


S4i 

To  return  to  the  subject :  v  hiUevet'  the  mode  of 
address,  or  whatever  tiie  choice  of  'opics,  there  are 
two  (jualities  inseparahle  from  religious  instrue- 
tion  :  tliese  are  seriousness  aiul  aj^i^ction.  In  the 
most  awful  denunciations  of  the  divine  displ(;asure, 
an  air  of  unafTccted  tenderness  should  be  preserved, 
that  while  with  unsparing  fidelity  we  declare  the 
whole  counsel  of  God,  it  may  appear  we  are  actua- 
ted by  a  genuine  spirit  of  comppvSsion.  A  hard  and 
unfeeling  manner  of  denouncing  tlie  threatenings  of 
the  word  of  God,  is  not  only  barbarous  and  inhu- 
man, hut  calculated,  by  inspiring  disgust,  to  rob 
them  of  all  their  eiilcacy.  If  the  awful  part  of  our 
message,  which  may  be  stiled  the  burden  of  the 
Lord,  ever  fall  with  due  weiglst  on  our  hearers,  it 
will  be  when  it  is  delivered  witli  a  trembling  hand 
and  faltering  lips  ;  and  we  may  then  expect  them 
to  realize  its  solemn  import,  w  hen  they  perceive 
that  we  ourselves  are  ready  to  sink  under  it.  Of 
whom  1  have  told  you  before,  said  St.  Paul,  and 
now  tell  you  ^y^^^J^Jg;  that  they  are  the  enemies  of 
tlie  cross  of  Christ.  What  force  does  that  affect- 
ing declaration  derive  from  these  tears  !  An  affec- 
tionate  manner  insinuates  itself  into  the  heart,  ren- 
ders it  soft  and  plia!)le,  and  disposes  it  to  imbibe  the 
sentiments  and  follow  \^^.  impulse  of  the  speaker. 
Whoever  has  attended  to  the  effect  of  addresses 
from  the  pulpit,  must  liave  perceived  how  mucli  of 
their  impression  depends  upon  this  quality,  v/hich 
gives  to  sentiments  comparatively  trite,  a  powei- 

31 


24^ 

over  the  mind  beyond  what  the  most  striking  ami 
original  conceptions  possess  without  it. 

Near  akin  to  this,  and  not  inferior  in  importance, 
is  the  second  quality    we  mentioned,  seriousness. 
It'ns  scarcely  necessary  to  remark,   how  offensive 
and  unnatural  is  every  violation  of  it  in  a  religious 
discourse,  which  is,  however,  of  wider  extent  than 
is  generally  imagined,  including  not  merely  jesting, 
buffoonery,  and  undisguised  levity  of  every  sort,  but 
also  whatsoever  in  composition  or  manner,  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  supposition  of  the  speaker  being 
deeply  in  earnest ;    such   as  sparkling  ornaments, 
far-fetched  images,  and  that  exuberance  of  flowers 
which  seems  evidently  designed  to  gratify  the  fancy, 
rather  than  to  touch  the  heart.     When  St.  Paul  re- 
commends to  Timothy,  that  sound  speech  wliich 
cannot  be  condemned,  it  is  probable  he    refers  as 
much  to  the  propriety  of  the  vehicle,  as  to  the  pu- 
rity of  the  instruction.     There  is,  permit  me  to  re- 
mind you,  a  sober  dignity,  both  of  language  and  of 
sentiment,  suited  to  the  representations  of  religion 
in  all  its  variety  of  topics,  from  which  the  inspired 
writers  never  depart,  and  which  it  will  be  our  wis- 
dom to  imitate.     In  describing  the  pleasures  of  de- 
votion, or  the  joys  of  heaven,  there  is  nothing  weak, 
sickly,  or  effeminate  :  a  chaste  severity  pervades 
their  delineations,   and  whatever  they  say  appears 
to  emanate  from  a  serious  mind,  accustomed  to  the 
contemplation  of  great   objects,  without  ever  sink- 


2-13 

ing  under  them  from  imbecility,  or  attempting  to 
supply  a  deficiency  of  interest,  by  puerile  exagge- 
rations and  feeble  ornaments.  The  exquisite  pro- 
priety of  their  representations  is  chiefly  to  be  as- 
cribed  to  their  habitual  seriousness ;  and  the  latter 
to  their  seeing  things  as  they  are. 

Having  touched  on  the  principal  difficulties  at- 
tending the  public  exercise  of  the  ministry,  it  may 
be  expected  something  will  be  said  on  his  more 
private  functions.  To  affirm  it  to  be  the  duty  of  a 
pastor  to  visit  his  people  often,  is,  perhaps,  affirm- 
ing too  much ;  the  more  frequently  he  converses 
with  them,  however,  provided  his  conversation  be 
properly  conducted,  the  more  will  his  person  be  en- 
deared,  and  his  ministry  acceptable.  The  season- 
able introduction  of  religious  topics  is  often  of  such 
admirable  use,  that  there  are  few  qualities  more 
enviable  than  the  talent  of  teaching  from  house  to 
house  ;  though  the  modern  state  of  manners,  I  am 
aware,  has  rendered  this  branch  of  the  pastoral  of- 
fice much  more  difficult  than  in  former  times.  In  a 
country  village,  where  there  is  more  simplicity, 
loss  dissipation,  and  less  hurry  of  business  tlian  in 
large  towns,  prudent  exertions  in  this  kind  may  be 
considered  as  eminently  proper  and  beneficml.  The 
extent  to  which  they  should  be  carried  must  be  de- 
termined by  circumstances,  without  attempting  to 
prescribe  any  other  rule  than  this,  that  the  conversa- 
tion of  a  Christian  minister  should  be  always  such, 


21-4 

as  is  adapted  to  stveugUien,  not  impair,  tlie  irapre.«- 
prcssion  of  his  public  instructions.  Though  it  is 
not  necessary.,  nor  expedient,  for  him  to  be  always 
conveisisjg  on  the  sul»ject  of  re]igi«)n.  his  conver- 
sation should  invariai)]y  have  a  religious  tendency; 
that  whatever  excursions  he  indulges,  the  return 
to  serous  topics  may  he  eosy  and  natural.  Tlie 
whole  cast  of  his  character  should  he  such  as  is 
adapted  to  give  weight  to  the  exercise  of  his  raiiiis- 
terial  functions.  On  the  peculiar  force  with  which 
the  obligations  of  virtue  attach  to  a  Christian 
teacher,  the  purity  and  correctness  of  your  own  con- 
duct, while  it  would  embolden  me  to  speak  with  the 
greater  freedom,  make  it  less  necessary  for  me  to 
insist.  You  are  aware  that  moral  delinquency  in 
Mmf  produces  a  sensation  as  wlien  an  armour-bear^ 
er  fainteth  ;  that  he  can  neither  stand  nor  fall  by 
himself ;  and  that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  deviate 
essentially  from  the  path  of  rectitude,  without  in- 
curring tiie  guilt  and  infamy  of  Jeroboam,  who 
IS  never  mentioned  but  to  be  stigmatized  as  he  icho 
taught  Israel  to  sin.  Be  thou  an  evFample  to  the 
^fock  in  faiih,  in  'piiviiy,  in  ccnverscdionj  in  doc- 
trine,  in  charity.  Instead  of  satisfying  ourselves^ 
in  the  acquisition  of  virtue  wi(h  the  attainments  of 
a  learner,  we  must  aspire  to  the  perfection  of  a  mas- 
ter ;  and  give  to  our  conduct  the  correctness  of  a 
paitern.  We  are  called  to  such  a  conquest  over 
the  world,  and  such  an  exhibition  of  the  spirit  of 
Chiist,  as  shall  not  merely  exempt  us  from  censure^ 


245 

but  excite  to  emulation.  Fe  are  the  salt  of  the  eai^i^ 
ye  are  the  light  nf  the  world,  said  our  Saviour  to 
his  disciples,  vvliom  he  was  about  to  send  forth  in 
the  character  of  public  teachers.  As  persons  to 
whom  the  conduct  of  souls  is  committed,  we  cannot 
make  a  wrong  step  without  endangering  the  inter- 
ests of  others;  so  that  if  wo  neglect  to  take  our 
soundings,  and  inspect  our  chart,  ours  is  tlie  mis- 
conduct of  tlie  pilot,  who  is  denied  the  privilege  of 
perishing  alone.  The  imniGral  conduct  of  a  Chris- 
tian minister  is  little  less  than  a  public  triumph  over 
the  religion  he  inculcates:  and  when  we  recollect 
the  frailty  of  our  nature,  the  snares  to  which  we 
are  exposed,  and  the  wiles  of  our  adversary,  who 
will  proportion  his  efforts  to  the  advantages  result- 
ing from  his  success,  we  must  be  aware  how  much 
the  necessity  of  maintaining  an  exemplary  conduct 
adds  to  the  difficulty  of  the  ministerial  function. 

With  tiie  utmost  propriety  of  conduct,  and  the 
greatest  skill  exerted  in  your  work,  we  dare  not  flat- 
teryou  with  the  pi'ospect  of  unmingled  success.  Un- 
der the  most  judicious  method  of  treatment,  the 
maladies  of  some  will  prove  incurable,  and  they 
will  perish  under  your  hand.  While  to  some,  the 
gospel  is  a  savour  of  life  unto  life,  to  others  it  will 
prove  the  savour  of  death  unto  death  ;  and  in  the 
course  of  your  labours,  you  will  meet  with  frequent 
disappointments   M'here  you  have  formed  the  most 


S46 

sanguine  expectations.  Some  toho  did  run  well, 
will  afterivards  be  hindered ;  and  of  others  who 
have  clean  escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  icorld, 
through  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christy  being  afterwards  entangled  therein, 
the  latter  end  will  be  worse  than  the  beginning. 
Many  a  Demas,  it  is  probable,  will  forsake  you, 
having  loved  this  present  world;  and  by  many  of 
your  hearers,  who  now  evince  the  most  zealous 
attachment,  you  may  hereafter  be  considered  as  an 
enemy,  because  you  tell  them  the  truth.  In  certain 
instances,  your  ministry  will  be  attended  with  con- 
sequences which  you  cannot  contemplate  without 
deep  concern  ;  for  the  Sword  of  the  Spirit  is  au 
av/ful  weapon,  which  will  exert,  where  it  fails  to 
inflict  a  salutary  wound,  its  destructive  edge. 
Against  those  of  your  hearers  who  reject  your 
message,  though  now  an  ambassador  of  peace,  and 
often  a  weeping  suppliant  at  their  feet,  you  will 
*,ere  lon^  appear  a  swift  witness  before  God,  and 
be  compelled,  by  your  voice,  to  exasperate  the 
accents  of  vengeance,  and  augment  the  vials  of 
wrath.  Tou  are  set  for  the  rising  and  falling  of 
Tuany  in  Israel. 

II.  But  it  is  time  to  turn  to  a  more  pleasing  part 
of  our  subject,  and  to  remind  you  of  some  of  the  sup- 
ports  by  w  hich  these  sources  of  discouragement  are 
balanced. 


847 

1.  The  office  you  haye  undertaken  is  of  divine 
institution.      Tlie   unhappy   disputes   which  have 
prevailed    in   the   church,    respecting   the   proper 
channels  for  conveying,  and  the  legitimate  mode  of 
Testing  it,  are  so  far  from  weakening  or  perplexing 
the  evidence  of  this  truth,  that  they  may  be  consid- 
ered as  so  many  concurrent  suffrages  in  its  favour  ; 
since  it  is  allowed,  on  all  hands,  that  the  Christian 
ministry  is  an  ordinance  of  God  ;   an  expedient  for 
the  improvement  of  mankind,   of  his  devising,  and 
supported   by  his  authority.     But  of  that  wisdom 
which  pervades  the  works  of  God,  the  church  is  the 
principal  scene  ;   to  the  intent,   saith  the  Apostle, 
that  to  principalities  and  poicers,  might  be  made 
knoivn  by  the  church,  the  manifold  wisdom   of  God. 
Hence  we  may  be  certain  that  so  leading  a  branch 
of  its  constitution  as  that  under   our  consideration, 
cannot  fail  of  being  adapted,   in  the  best  possible 
manner,  to  promote  the  interest  of  religion  ;    nor  is 
it  difficult  to  perceive,  that  if  men  are  to  be  wrought 
upon  by  reason  and  persuasion,  tho  setting  apart  an 
order  for  the  express  purpose  of  instructing  them  in 
the  concerns  of  salvation,  must  have   a  beneficial 
tendency  ;  an  order,  be  it  remembered,  not  appointed 
like  the  priests  of  pagan  antiquity,  for  the  perform- 
ance of  ceremonies,  but  for  the  inculcation  of  truth  ; 
not  to  conduct  the  pomp  of  lustrations  and  sacrifices, 
but  to  watch  for  souh  as  those  that  must  give  an 
account.     Nothing  similar  to  this  was  known  in  the 
heathen  religions  :  it  is  peculiar  to  Christianity,  and 


evincing  the  simple  wisdom  of  its  autlior,  is  as  ori- 
ginal  in  its^conception,  as  it  is  admirable  in  its  ef- 
fecfcs.  Its  simplicity,  its  distance  from  whatever  is 
dazzling  in  the  eyes  of  mankind,  is  one  of  its  high- 
est recommendations;  for  the  Christian  minister. is 
beaiitifolly  compared  to  a  llshermaii,  who  would 
only  be  embarrassed  by  those  instruments  and  ap- 
pendages which  belong  to  more  splendid  but  less 
useful  employments. 

S.  Another  consideration  calculated  to  afford  U8 
encouragement  is,  that  the  materials  of  our  work 
sire  ready  furnished  to  our  hand,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  of  a  nature  admirably  adapted  to  our  purpose. 
Our  ofiice  is  that  of  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
kingdom  ;  our  duty,  faithfully  to  dispense  the  stores 
which   superior  wisdom  and  opulence  have  provid- 
ed.    It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  stretch  our  inven- 
tion in  the  discovery  of  topics  and  arguments  ilttcd 
to  move  the  mind,  and  impel  it  in  aright  direction, 
which,    if   w^e   may   judge    from   past    experience, 
would  be  a  most  unpromising  undertakiug.     A  doc- 
Irine,  full,    pure,  perfect,  to  which  nothing  can  be 
added   without   debasing  its  spirit,   nothing  taken 
away  without  impairing  its  proportions,  is  commit 
ted  to  our  trust,  to  be  retained  aifd  preserved,  just 
as  we  have  received  it,   and  delivered  to  our  hear- 
ers in  all  its  primitive  simplicity.     Like  the  works 
of  nature,  while  it  exhibits,  at  first  view,  an  impress^ 
of  its  author,  in  the   unequivocal  character  it  bear* 


249 

of  purity  and  majesty,  it  improves  on  a  closer  exam- 
ination, and  the  more  deeply  it  is  investigated,  the 
more  the  wisdom  of  tlic  contrivance,  in  its  exquisite 
adaptation  to  the  state  and  condition  of  mankind^ 
becomes  conspicuous.  As  the  discovery  of  a  way 
of  salvation  for  a  fallen  race,  of  the  method  by 
which  a  guilty  and  degenerate  creature  may  re- 
cover the  image  and  favour  of  his  Maker,  which  we 
must  ever  remember  is  its  most  essential  character- 
istic, what  is  wanting  to  its  perfection  ?  what  in- 
formation or  assurance  beyond  what  it  contains, 
calculated  to  awe,  enlighten,  convince,  and  encour- 
age ?  The  facts  it  exhibits,  supported  by  clear  and 
indubitable  testimony,  are  more  extraordinary  than 
ever  entered  the  mind  of  man  in  its  widest  excur- 
sions, combining  all  the  sobriety  of  trutli,  with 
more  than  the  grandeur  of  fiction  ;  and  the  doc- 
trines connected  with  these  facts,  by  the  easiest 
and  most  natural  inference,  are  of  infinite  moment. 
To  a  serious  mind,  the  truths  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion appear  with  such  an  air  of  unaffected  great- 
ness, that,  in  comparison  of  these,  all  other  specu- 
lations and  reasouiiigs  seem  like  the  amusements 
of  childhood.  When  the  Deity,  the  incarnation, 
the  atonement,  the  resurrection  of  the  Son  of  God, 
the  sanctification  of  the  church,  and  the  prospects 
of  glory,  have  engaged  our  contemplation,  we  feel, 
in  turning  our  attention  to  other  objects,  a  strange 
descent,  and  perceive,  with  the  certainty  of  demon- 
stration, that,  as  the  earth  is  too  narrow  for  the  full 

3S 


250 

tlevelopemeiit  of  these  mysteries,  they  are  destined, 
by  their  consequences  and  effects,  to  impregnate  an 
eternal  duration.  We  are  not  at  all  surprised  at 
finding  that  the  ancient  prophets  searched  into  these 
mysteries  with  great  but  unsuccessful  diligence, 
that  the  angels  desire  to  look  into  them,  or  that  the 
apostles  were  lost  in  the  contemplation  of  t{u>s6 
i'iches  which  they  proclaimed  and  imparted.  Arft 
you  desirous  of  fixing  the  attention  of  your  hearers 
strongly  on  their  everlasting  concerns  ?  No  pecu- 
liar refinement  of  thought,  no  subtilty  of  reasoning, 
much  less  the  pompous  exaggerations  of  secular  elo- 
quence, are  wanted  for  that  purpose  :  you  have 
only  to  imbibe  deeply  the  mind  of  Christ,  to  let  his 
doctrine  enlighten,  his  love  inspire  your  heart,  and 
your  situation,  in  comparison  of  other  speakers,  will 
resemble  that  of  the  angel  of  the  apocalypse,  who 
was  seen  standing  in  the  sun.  Draw  your  instruc- 
tions immediately  from  the  Bible ;  the  more  imme- 
diately they  are  derived  from  the  source,  and  the 
less  they  are  tinctured  with  human  distinctions  and 
refinements,  the  more  salutary,  and  the  more  effica- 
cious. Let  them  be  taken  fresh  from  the  spring. 
You,  I  am  persuaded,  will  not  satisfy  yourself  with 
the  study  of  Christianity  in  narrow  jejune  abridg- 
ments and  systems,  but  contemplate  it,  in  its  utmost 
extent,  as  it  subsists  in  the  sacred  oracles;  and, 
in  investigating  these,  you  will  permit  your  reason 
and  conscience  an  operation,  as  free  and  unfet- 
tered, as  if  none  had  examined  them  before.     Th© 


S51 

neglect  of  this  produces,  too  often,  an  artificial 
scarcity,  where  some  of  the  choicest  provisions  of 
the  household  are  exploded  or  overlooked. 

When  we   inculcate,  with  so  much    earnestness, 
an  attention  to  the  miud  of  Christ,  as  exhibited  in 
the  Scriptures,  let  us  not  be  understood  to  exclude 
liis  precepts,  or  to  countenance,  for  a  moment,  the 
too  frequent  neglect  of  Christian  morality.     While 
you  delight  in  displaying  the  riches  of  divine  grace, 
conspicuous   in  the    work  of  redemption,    as  the 
grand   motive   to  love  and  Irust  in  the  Redeemer, 
you  will  not  forget  frequently  to  admonish  your 
liearers,    that  he  only  loveth  him  who  keepeth  his 
sayhigs ;  the  illustration  of  which,   in  their  bear- 
ings upon  the  different  relations  and  circumstances 
of  life,   will   form,   if  you  follow  the  apostolic  ex- 
ample,  a  most  important  branch  of  your  ministry. 
Not    content   with   committing    the    oblii^ation    of 
morality  to  the   arbitration  of  feeling,   much  less 
with  faintly  hinting  at  it,  as   an  obvious  inference 
from  orthodox  doctrine,  you  will  illustrate  its  prin- 
ciples with  an  energy,  a  copiousness,  a  fulness  of 
detail,   proportioned   to  its   acknowledged   impor- 
tance.    You    will   not  be  silent  on   the   precepts, 
from  an  apprehension  of  infringing  on  the  freedom 
of  the  gospel,  nor  sink  the  character  of  the  legisla 
tor  in  that  of  tlic  Saviour  of  the  church.     A  morali- 
ty,  more  elevated  and  pure   than  is  to  be  met  with 
in  the  pages  of  Sencea  or  Ilpictctus.  will  breathe 


233 

through  your  sermons,  founded  on  abasis,  which  ev- 
ery understanding  caneomprehendj  and  enforced  by 
sanctions,  which  nothing  but  the  utmost  stupidity 
can  despise — a  morality  of  which  the  love  of  God, 
and  a  devoted  attachment  to  the  Redeemer,  are  the 
plastic  soul,  which,  pervading  every  limb,  and  ex- 
pressing itself  in  every  lineament  of  the  new  crea- 
ture, gives  it  a  beauty  all  its  own.  As  it  is  the 
genuine  fruit  of  just  and  affecting  views  of  divine 
truth,  you  will  never  sever  it  from  its  parent  stock, 
nor  indulge  the  fruitless  hope  of  leading  men  to  ho- 
liness, without  stron|ly  imbuing  them  with  the  spi- 
rit of  the  gospel.  Truth  and  holiness  are,  in  the 
Christian  system,  so  intimately  allied,  that  the 
warm  and  faithful  inculcation  of  the  one,  lays  the 
only  foundation  for  the  other.  For  the  illustration  of 
particular  branches  of  morals,  we  may  consult  Pa- 
gan writers  on  ethics,  with  advantage  ;  but  in  search 
of  princi/pleSj  it  is  at  our  peril  that  we  desert  the 
school  of  Christ:  since  we  are  complete  in  him, 
and  all  the  moral  excellence  to  which  we  can  aspire 
is  but  Christianity  embodied  ;  or,  if  we  may  be  al- 
lowed to  change  the  figure,  the  impress  of  the  gos- 
pel upon  the  heart.  The  perfection  of  the  Chris- 
tian system,  considered  as  the  instrument  of  reno- 
vating the  human  mind,  is  the  second  considera- 
tion. 

3.  The  third   consideration  to   which  I  would 
direct  your  attention,  is,  that  of  its  ^^beiug  the  dis- 


S53 

pensation  of  the  Spirit.  To  this  the  Apostle  imme- 
diately refers  in  the  context,  where  he  is  contrast- 
ing the  Christian  with  the  Jewish  institute.  Who 
hath  also  made  lis  able  ministers  of  the  JV'eiv  Testa- 
ment, not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit  ;  for  the 
letter  killeth,  but  the  Spirit  giveth  life.  But  if  the 
ministration  of  death  written  and  engraven  in 
stones  was  glorious,  how  shall  not  the  ministration 
efthe  spirit  be  more  glorious.  From  tliis  cicura- 
gtance,  he  infers,  the  superior  dignity  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  The  miraculous  gifts  intended  for 
a  sign  to  unbelievers,  and  to  aid  the  gospel,  during 
its  first  struggle  with  the  powers  of  Pagan  darkness, 
have  long  since  ceased,  with  the  exigency  that  cal- 
led them  forth  ;  but  the  renewing  and  sanctifying 
agency  of  the  spirit  remains,  and  will  continue  to 
the  end  of  time  ?  the  express  declaration  of  our 
Saviour  not  admitting  a  doubt  of  its  perpetuity. 
I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you 
another  comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  for- 
ever, the  Spirit  of  truth,  whom  the  world  cannot 
receive,  because  it  seeth  him  not,  neithe^^  knoweth 
him,  but  ye  know  him,  for  he  dwelleth  with  you,  and 
shall  be  in  you.  To  the  world,  who,  in  their  uii- 
renewed  state,  are  unsusceptible  of  his  sanctifying 
impress,  he  is  promised,  in  the  preparatory  form  of 
a  spirit  of  conviction  ;  to  believers,  he  is  promised 
as  an  indwelling  principle,  an  ever-present  Deity. 
w^ho  consecrates  the  hearts  of  the  faithful  to  be  his 
perpetual  abode.     Hence  the  ministers  of  Christ 


254. 

are  not  dependant  for  success  on  the  force  of  moral 
suasion  ;  not  merely  the  teachers  of  an  external  re- 
ligion, including  truths  the  most  momentous,  and 
duties  of  the  highest  obligation  ;  they  are  also  the 
instruments  through  whom  a  supernatural  agency  is 
exerted.     And  hence,  in  the  conversion  of  souls,  we 
are  not  to  compare  the  difficulties  to  be  surmounted, 
with  the  feeble  resources  of  human  power,  but  with 
liis,  with  whom  nothing  is  impossible.     To  this  the 
inspired  Historian  every  where  directs  our  atten- 
tion, as  alone  sufficient  to  account  for  the  signal 
success   which  crowned    the   labours    of  the    first 
preachers.     If  a  great  multitude  at  Antioch  turned 
to  the  Lord,  it  was  because  the  hand  of  the  Lord  ivas 
ivith  them  ;  if  Lydia  believed,  in  consequence  of 
giving  attention  to  the  things  that  were  spoken,  it  was 
because  the  hovd  ojjened  her  heart  ;  if  Paul  planted, 
and  Apollos  watered,  with  success,  it  was  the  Lord 
wJio  gave  the  increase;   and  highly  as  they  were 
endowed,  and  though  invested  with  such  extensive 
authority',  they  did  not  presume  to  count  upon  any 
thing  from  themselves  ;  their  sufficiency  was  of  God. 
As  the  possibility  of  such  an  influence  can  l)e  doubted 
by  none   who   believe  in  a   Deity,  so  the  peculiar 
consolation  derived  from  the  doctrine  that  asserts  it, 
seems  to  he   this,  that  it  renders  what  was  merely 
possible,  certain  ;  what  was  before  vague  and  unde- 
termined, fixed,  by    reducing  the   interposition  of 
the  Almighty,  in  the  concerns  of  salvation,  to  a  stat- 
ed method  and  a  settled  law.     The  communication 


S5j 

of  the  Spirit,  to  render  the  gospel  efficacious,  he- 
comes  a  standing  ordinance  of  heaven,  and  a  full  se- 
curity for  its  final  triumph  over  every  opposing 
force.  My  word,  said  the  Lord  by  the  prophet, 
shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  shall  accomplish 
the  thing  ivhereimto  I  sent  it.  At  the  same  time, 
connected  as  it  is  by  the  very  tenor  of  the  promise, 
with  the  publication  of  au  external  revelation,  and 
professing  to  set  its  seal  only  to  the  testimony  of 
Jesus,  it  precludes,  as  far  as  possible,  every  enthu- 
siastic pretension,  by  leaving  the  appeal  to  Scrip- 
ture as  full,  and  uncontrolled  as  if  no  such  agency 
were  supposed.  It  is  strange  that  any  should  be 
found  to  deny  a  doctrine  so  consolatory,  under  the 
pretence  of  its  derogating  from  the  sufficiency  of 
Revelation,  when  it  not  only  ascribes  to  it  all  tho 
efficacy  that  can  belong  to  an  instrument,  or  exter- 
nal mean  ;  but  confers  the  highest  honour  upon  it, 
by  marking  it  out  as  the  only  fountain  of  instruction 
to  which  the  agency  of  the  Deity  is  inseparably  at- 
tached. The  idea  of  his  immediate  interposition 
must  necessarily  increase  our  veneration  for  what- 
ever is  connected  with  it;  and  let  it  ever  be  remem- 
bered, that  the  internal  illumination  of  the  Spirit  is 
merely  intended  to  qualify  the  mind  for  distinctly 
perceiving,  and  cordially  embracing  those  objects, 
and  no  other,  which  are  exhibited  in  the  written 
word.  To  dispel  prejudice,  to  excite  a  disposition 
for  inquiry,  and  to  infuse  that  love  of  the  truth,  with- 
out which  we  can  neither  be  transformed  by  its  power 


S56 

nor  bow  to  its  dictates,  is  tlie  grand  scope  of  spirit- 
ual agency  ;  and  how  this  should  derogate  from  the 
dignity  of  the  truth  itself^  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive. 
The  inseparable  alliance  between  the  Spirit  and  the 
Word  secures  the  harmony  of  the  divine  dispensa- 
tions ;  and  since  that  Spirit  of  truth  can  never  con- 
tradict himself,  whatever  impulse  he  may  give, 
whatever  disposition  he  may  communicate.,  it  in- 
volves no  irreverence  towards  that  divine  agent  to 
compare  his  operations  with  that  standing  revela- 
tion, wliich,  equally  claiming  him  for  its  author,  he 
has  expressly  appointed  for  the  trial  of  the  spirits* 

Let  me  earnestly  intreat  you,  by  keeping  close  to 
the  fountain  of  grace,  to  secure  a  large  measure  of 
its  influence.  In  your  private  studies,  and  in  your 
public  performances,  remember  your"  absolute  de- 
pendance  on  superior  aid  ;  let  your  conviction  of 
this  dependance  become  so  deep  and  practical  as  to 
prevent  your  attempting  any  thing  in  your  own 
strength,  after  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  who,  when 
he  had  occasion  to  advert  to  his  labours  in  the  gospel, 
checks  himself  by  adding,  with  ineffable  modesty, 
i,>et  not  I,  hilt  the  grace  of  God  that  ivas  with  me. 
From  that  vivid  perception  of  truth,  that  full  as- 
surance of  faith,  which  is  its  inseparable  attendant, 
you  will  derive  unspeakable  advantage  in  address- 
ing your  hearers  ;  a  seriousness,  tenderness,  and 
majesty,  will  pervade  your  discourses,  beyond  what 
the  greatest,  unassisted  talent  can  command.     In 


857 

the  choice  of  your  subjects  it  will  lead  you  to  what 
is  most  solid  and  useful,  while  it  enables  you  to 
handle  them  in  a  manner  the  most  efficacious  and 
impressive.  Possessed  of  this  celestial  unction, 
you  will  not  be  under  the  temptation  of  neglecting  a 
plain  gospel  in  quest  of  amusing  speculations  or  un- 
profitable novelties ;  the  most  ordinary  topics  will 
open  themselves  with  a  freshness  and  interest,  as 
though  you  had  never  considered  them  before ;  and 
the  things  of  the  Spirit  will  display  their  inexhaus- 
tible variety  and  depth.  You  will  pierce  the  invis- 
ible world  ;  you  will  look,  so  to  speak,  into  eterni- 
ty, and  present  the  essence  and  core  of  religion, 
while  too  many  preachers,  for  want  of  spiritual  dis- 
cernment, rest  satisfied  with  the  surface  and  the 
shell.  It  will  not  allow  us  to  throw  one  grain  of 
incense  on  the  altar  of  vanity ;  it  will  make  us  for- 
get ourselves  so  completely  as  to  convince  our  hear- 
ers we  do  so ;  and,  displacing  every  thing  else  from 
the  attention,  leave  nothing  to  be  felt,  or  thought 
of,  but  the  majesty  of  truth,  and  the  realities  of  eter- 
nity. 

In  proportion  to  the  degree  in  which  you  possess 
this  sacred  influence,  will  be  the  earnestness  with 
which  you  implore  it  in  behalf  of  your  hearers. 
Often  loillyou  bow  the  knee  to  the  God  and  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  will  grant  unto 
them,  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation  in  the 

33 


S38 

knowledge  ofhim^  the  eyes  of  their  uvder standing 
being  enlightened,  that  they  may  know  what  is  the 
hope  of  their  calling,  and  what  are  the  riches  of  the 
glory  of  his  inheritance  among  them  that  believe. 

On  the  one  hand,  it  deserves  attention,  that  the 
most  eminent  and  successful  preachers  of  the  gos- 
pel in  different  communities,  a  Brainerd,  a  Baxter^ 
and  a  Schwartz,  have  been  the  most  conspicuous 
for  a  simple  dependance  upon  spiritual  aid  ;  and, 
on  the  other,  that  no  success  whatever  has  attended 
the  ministrations  of  those  by  whom  this  droctrine 
has  been  either  neglected  or  denied.  They  have 
met  with  such  a  rebuke  of  their  pi'esumpdon,  in  the 
total  failure  of  their  efforts,  that  none  will  contend 
for  the  reality  of  divine  interposition,  as  far  as  they 
are  concerned  ;  for  when  has  the  arm  of  the  Lord 
been  revealed  to  those  pretended  teachers  of  Chris- 
tianity, who  believe  there  is  no  such  arm?  We 
must  leave  them  to  labour  in  a  field,  respecting 
which  God  has  commanded  the  clouds  not  to  rain 
upon  it.  As  if  conscious  of  this,  of  late  they  have 
turned  their  efforts  into  a  new  channel,  and,  des- 
pairing of  the  conversion  of  sinners,  have  confined 
themselves  to  the  seduction  of  the  faithful ;  in 
which,  it  must  be  confessed,  they  have  acted  in  a, 
manner  perfectly  consistent  with  their  principles  ; 
the  propagation  of  heresy  requiring,  at  least,  no  rf?- 
vine  assistance. 


259 

h  Let  me  request  you  to  consider  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  the  profession  which  you  liavc  assum- 
ed. 1  am  aware  that  the  bare  mention  of  these, 
as  attributes  of  the  Christian  ministry  (especially 
when  exercised  among  Protestant  dissenters,)  may 
provoke  a  smile  :  we  contend,  however,  that  if  the 
dignity  of  an  employment  is  to  be  estimated,  not  by 
the  glitter  of  external  appearances,  but  by  the  mag- 
nitude  and  duration  of  the  consequences  involved  in 
its  success,  the  ministerial  function  is  an  higli  and 
honourable  one.  Though  it  is  not  permitted  us  to 
magnify  ourselves,  we  may  be  allowed  to  magnify 
our  office ;  and,  indeed,  the  juster  the  apprehen- 
sions we  entertain  of  what  belongs  to  it,  the  deeper 
the  conviction  we  shall  feel  of  our  defects.  Inde- 
pendently of  every  other  consideration,  that  office 
cannot  be  mean  which  the  Son  of  God  condescend- 
ed to  sustain  :  for  The  word  which  we  preach  Jirst 
began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord  ;  and,  while  he  so- 
journed upon  earth,  that  Prince  of  life  was  chiefly 
employed  in  publishing  his  own  relisjion.  Tliat 
office  cannot  be  mean,  whose  end  is  tl)e  reoovery  of 
man  to  his  original  purity  and  happiness — the  illu- 
mination of  the  understanding — the  communication 
of  truth — and  the  production  of  principles  w  hicli 
will  bring  forth  fruit  unto  everlasting  life.  As  the 
material  part  of  the  creation  was  formed  for  the 
sake  of  the  immaterial ;  and  of  the  latter  the  most 
momentous  characteristic  is  its  moral  and  account, 
able  nature,  or,  in  other  words,  its  capacity  of  vir- 


S60 

tuc  and  of  vice  ;  that  labour  cannot  want  dignity, 
which  is  exerted  in  improving  man  in  his  highest 
character,  and  fitting  him  for  his  eternal  destination. 
Here  alone  is  certainty  and  durability  :  for,  however 
highly  we  may  esteem  the  arts  and  sciences,  which 
polish  our  species,  and  promote  the  welfare  of  so- 
ciety ;  whatever  reverence  we  may  feel,  and  ought 
to  feel,  for  those  laws  and  institutions  whence  it 
derives  the  security  necessary  for  enabling  it  to  en- 
large its  resources  and  develope  its  energies,  we 
cannot  forget  that  these  are  but  the  embellishments 
of  a  scene,  we  must  shortly  quit — the  decorations 
of  a  theatre,  from  which  the  eager  spectators  and 
appla'ided  actors  must  soon  retire.  The  end  of 
all  things  is  at  hand.  Vanity  is  inscribed  on 
every  earthly  pursuit,  on  all  sublunary  labour ; 
its  materials,  its  instruments,  and  its  objects  will 
alike  perish.  An  incurable  taint  of  mortality  has 
seized  upon,  and  will  consume  them  ere  long.  The 
acquisitions  derived  from  religion,  the  graces  of  a 
renovated  mind,  are  alone  permanent.  This  is  the 
mystic  inclosure,  rescued  from  the  empire  of  change 
anti  death  ;  this  tiie  field  which  the  Lord  has  bless- 
ed ;  arid  this  word  of  the  kingdom,  the  seed  which 
alone  produces  immortal  fruit,  the  very  bread  of 
life,  with  which,  under  a  higher  economy,  the 
Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  will  feed  his  flock 
and  leplenish  his  elect,  through  eternal  ages. 
How  high  antr  awful  a  function  is  that  which  pro- 
poses to  establish  in  the  soul  an  interior  dominion-— 


S61 

to  illuminate  its  powers  by  a  celestial  light — aud 
introduce  it  to  an  intimate,  ineffable,  and  unchang- 
ing alliance  with  the  Father  of  Spirits.  What  an 
honour  to  be  employed  as  the  instrument  of  con- 
ducting that  mysterious  process  by  which  men  are 
born  of  God  ;  to  expel  from  the  heart  the  venom  of 
the  old  serpent ;  to  purge  the  conscience  from  in- 
visible stains  of  guilt ;  to  release  the  passions  from 
the  bondage  of  corruption,  aud  invite  them  to  soar 
aloft  into  the  regions  of  uncreated  light  and  beauty  ; 
to  say  to  the  prisoners,  go  forth,  to  them  that  are  in 
darkness,  shew  yourselves/  These  are  the  fruits 
which  arise  from  the  successful  discharge  of  the 
Christian  ministry  ;  these  the  effects  of  the  gospel, 
wherever  it  becomes  the  power  of  God  unto  sal- 
vation :  and  the  interests  which  they  create,  the  joy 
which  they  diffuse,  are  felt  in  other  worlds. 

In  insisting  on  the  dignity  attached  to  the  minis- 
terial office,  it  is  far  from  my  intention  to  supply 
fuel  to  vanity,  or  suggest  such  ideas  of  yourself  as 
shall  tempt  you  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage. 
Let  the  importance  of  your  station  be  rather  felt 
and  acnowledged  in  its  beneficial  results,  than  os- 
tentatiously displayed  ;  and  the  consciousness  of  it, 
instead  of  being  suffered  to  evaporate  in  authorita- 
tive airs  and  pompous  pretensions,  produce  a  con- 
centration of  your  powers.  If  the  great  Apostle 
was  content  to  be  a  helper  of  the  joy,  witiiout  claim- 
ing dominion  over  the  faith  of  his  converts,  how  far 


263 

should  we  be  from  advaneiug  such  a  claim.  If  he 
served  the  Lord  with  humility  and  many  tears ;  if 
he  appeared  among  the  churches  which  he  planted, 
in  fear,  and  in  weakness,  and  with  much  trembling, 
we  may  learn  how  possible  it  is  to  combine,  with 
true  dignity,  the  most  unasiuming  deportment,  and 
the  deepest  conviction  of  our  weakness  and  un- 
worthiness,  with  a  vigorous  discharge  of  whatever 
belongs  to  the  apostolic  much  more  to  the  pastoral 
office.  The  proper  use  to  be  made  of  such  consid- 
erations as  have  now  been  suggested  is,  to  stir  up  the 
gift  which  is  in  ws,  to  apply  ourselves  to  our  work 
I  with  becoming  resolution,  and  anticipate,  in  depend- 
ance  on  the  divine  blessing,  important  effects.  The 
moment  we  permit  ourselves  to  think  lightly  of  the 
Christian  ministry,  our  right  arm  is  withered  ;  no- 
thing but  imbecility  and  relaxation  remains.  For  no 
man  ever  excelled  in  a  profession  to  which  he  did 
not  feel  an  attachment  bordering  on  enthusiasm  ; 
though  what  in  other  professions  is  enthusiasm,  isj 
in  ours,  the  dictate  of  sobriety  and  truth. 

5.  Recollect  for  your  encouragement,  the  reward 
that  awaits  the  faithful  minister.  Such  is  the  mys- 
terious condescension  of  divine  grace,  that  although 
it  reserves  to  itself  the  exclusive  honour  of  being 
the  fountain  of  all,  yet,  by  the  employment  of  hu- 
man agency  in  the  completion  of  its  designs,  it  con- 
trives to  multiply  its  gifts,  and  to  lay  a  foundation 
for  eternal  rewards.     When  the  church,  in  the  per- 


263 

fection  of  beauty,  shall  be  presented  to  Christ,  as  a 
bride  adorned  for  her  husband,  tha  faithful  pastor 
will  appear  as  the  friend  of  the  bridegroom,  who 
greatly  rejoices  because  of  the  bridegroom^s  voice. 
His  joy  will  be  tlie  joy  of  his  Lord,  inferior  in  de- 
gree, but  of  the  same  nature,   and  arising  from  the 
same  sources  :  while  he  will  have  the  peculiar  hap- 
piness of  reflecting  that  he   has   contributed  to  it ; 
contributed,  as  an  humble  instrument,  to  that  glory 
and  felicity  of  which  he  will  be  conscious  he  is  ut- 
terly unworthy  to  partake.     To  have  been  himself 
the  object  of  mercy,  to  have  been  the  means  of  im- 
parting it  to  others,  and  of  dispensing  the  unsearch- 
able, riches  of  Christ,  will  produce  a  pleasure  which 
can  never  be   adequately  felt  or  understood,  until 
we  see  him  as  he  is.     From  that  oneness  of  spirit, 
from  that  inseparable  conjunction  of  interest,  which 
will  then  be  experienced  in  its  utmost  extent,  will 
arise  a  capacity  of  sharing  the  triumph  of  the  Re- 
deemer,  and  of  participating  in  the   delight   with 
which  he  will  survey  his  finished  work,  when  a  new 
and  fairer   creation  shall  arise  out  of  the  ruins  of 
the  first.     And  is  this  the  end,  he  will  exclaim,  of 
all  my  labours,  my  toils,  and  watchings,  my  expos- 
tulation with  sinners,  and  my  efforts  to  console  the 
faithful !  and  is  this  the  issue  of  that  ministry  under 
which  I  was  often  ready  to  sink  !  and  this  the  glo- 
ry, of  which  I  heard  so  much,  understood  so  little, 
and  announced  to  my  hearers  with  lisping  accents, 
and  a  stammering  tongue  !  well  might  it  be   styled 


S61 

tlie  glory  to  he  revealed.  Auspicious  day !  on 
which  I  embarked  in  this  undertaking,  on  which 
the  love  of  Christ,  with  a  sweet  and  sacred  violence, 
impelled  me  to  feed  his  sheep  and  to  feed  his  lambs. 
With  what  emotion  shall  we,  who  being  entrusted 
with  so  holy  a  ministry,  shall  find  mercy  to  be  faith- 
ful, hear  that  voice  from  heaven.  Rejoice  and  be 
glad,  and  give  honour  to  him  /  for  the  marriage  of 
the  Lamb  is  come,  and  his  wife  hath  made  herself 
ready/  With  what  rapture  shall  we  recognize, 
amidst  an  innumerable  multitude,  the  seals  of  our 
ministry,  the  persons  whom  we  have  been  the  means 
of  conducting  to  that  glory  ! 

Hence  we  discern  the  futility  of  the  objection 
against  the  doctrine  of  future  rewards,  drawn  from 
an  apprehension,  that  to  be  actuated  by  such  a 
motive,  argues  a  mean  and  mercenary  disposition  ; 
since  the  reward  to  which  we  aspire,  in  this  instance 
at  least,  grows  out  of  the  employment  in  which  wc 
are  engaged,  and  will  consist  in  enjoyments  which 
can  only  be  felt  and  perceived  by  a  refined  and 
elevated  spirit.  The  success  of  our  undertaking 
will,  in  reality,  reward  itself,  by  the  complete 
gratification  it  will  afl:ord  to  the  sentiments  of  devo- 
tion and  benevolence,  which,  in  their  highest  per- 
fection, form  the  principal  ingredient  in  future 
felicity.  To  have  co-operated  in  any  degree  to- 
wards the  accomplishment  of  that  purpose  of  the 
j}eiiy,  to  reconcile  all  things  to  himself,  by  reduc- 


SG5 

ing  tlicm  to  the  obedience  of  his  Sou  :  which  is  the 
ultimate  end  of  all  his  works  ;  to  be  the  means  of  re- 
covering, though  it  were  but  an  inconsiderable 
portion  of  a  lapsed  and  degenerate  race  to  eternal 
happiness,  will  yield  a  satisfaction  exactly  com- 
mensurate to  the  force  of  our  benevolent  seutiments, 
and  the  degree  of  our  loyal  attachment  to  the  Su- 
preme Potentate.  The  consequences  involved  in 
saving  a  soul  from  death,  and  hiding  a  multiUide  of 
sins,  will  be  duly  appreciated  in  that  world  where 
the  worth  of  souls,  and  the  malignity  of  sin,  are 
fully  understood  ;  while,  to  extend  the  triumphs  of 
the  Redeemer,  by  forming  him  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
will  produce  a  transport  which  can  only  be  equal- 
led by  the  gratitude  and  love  we  shall  feel  towards 
the  Source  of  all  our  good. 

Before  I  close  this  discourse,  which  has,  per- 
liaps,  already  detained  you  too  long,  let  me  suggest 
one  reflection  which  so  naturally  arises  from  the 
view  we  have  taken  of  the  ministerial  office,  that  I 
cannot  think  it  right  to  pass  it  over  in  silence.  The 
consideration  to  whicii  we  allude,  respects  the  ad- 
vantages possessed  by  the  Christian  minister  for 
the  cultivation  of  personal  piety.  Blessed  is  the 
man,  said  the  royal  Psalmist,  whom  thou  choosestf 
and  caiisest  to  approach  unto  thee :  blessed  are  they 
who  dwell  in  thy  house,  they  will  he  still  praising  thee. 
If  he  was  so  strongly  ioipressed  with  a  convic- 
tion of  the  high  privilege  annexed  to  the  priesthood, 

31i 


S66 

by  virtue  of  its  being  allowed  a  nearer  approach 
to  God,  in  the  services  of  tlie  sanctuary,   the  situa- 
tion of  a  Christian  minister  is  not  less  distinguished, 
nor  less  desirable      It  is  the  only  one,  in  which 
our  general  calling  as  Christians,  and  our  particu-  , 
lar   calling  as  men,    perfectly  coincide.     In  a  life 
occupif'd   in   actions  that  terminate  in  the  present 
moment,  and  in  cares  and  pursuits,  extremely  dis- 
proportionate   to  the   dignity  of  our    nature,    but 
rendered    necessary    by  the    imperfection    of    our 
state ;  it  is  but  little  of  their  time  that  the  greater 
part  of  mankind  can   devote  to  the  direct  and  im- 
mediate pursuit  of  their  eternal  interests,     A  few 
remnants,  snatched  from  the  business  of  life,  is  all 
that  most  can  bestow.     In  our  profession,  the  full 
force   and   vigour  of  the  mind   may  be  exerted  on 
that  which   will  employ  it  for  ever ;  on  religion, 
the  final  centre  of  repose;  the   goal  to  which  all 
things  tendj  which  gives  to  time  all  its  importance, 
to  eternity  all  its  glory:  apart  from  which  man  is 
a  sliadow,    his   very  existence  a  riddle,  and  the 
stupendous   scenes  which  surround  liim,   as  inco- 
herent and  unmeaning  as    the  leaves    which   the 
Sybil  scattered  in  the  wind.     Our  inaptitude  to  be 
affected  in  any  measure  proportioned  to  the  intrinsic 
value  of  the  interest  in  which  we  are  concerned,  and 
the  objects  with  which  we  are  conversant,  is  partly 
to  lie  ascribed  to  the  corruption  of  nature,  partly  to 
the  limitation  of  our  faculties.     As  far  as  this  dis- 
proportion is  capable  of  being  corrected,   the  pur- 


207 

suits  connected  with  our  office,  are  unquestionably 
be.st  adapted  to  that  purpose,  by  closely  fixing  the 
attention  on  objects,  which  can  never  be  contemn- 
cd,  but  in  consequence  of  being  forgotten  ;  nor 
ever  surveyed  with  attention,  without  filling  th« 
whole  sphere  of  vision.  Though  the  scene  of  our 
labour  is  on  earth,  the  things  to  which  it  relates 
subsist  in  eternity.  We  can  give  no  account  of 
our  office,  much  less  discharge  any  branch  of  it 
with  propriety  and  eifect,  without  adverting  to  a 
future  state  of  being;  while  in  a  happy  exemption 
from  the  tumultuous  cares  of  life,  our  only  concern 
with  mankind,  as  far  as  it  respects  our  official 
character,  is  to  promote  their  everlasting  welfare  : 
our  only  business  on  earth,  the  very  same  that  em- 
ploys  those  exalted  spirits,  who  are  sent  forth  on 
embassies  of  mercy,  to  minister  to  them  who  shall 
be  heirs  of  salvation.  Our  duties  and  pursuits  are 
distinguished  from  all  others  by  their  immediate  re- 
lation to  the  ultimate  end  of  human  existence;  so 
that  while  secular  employments  can  be  rendered  in- 
nocent only  by  an  extreme  care  to  avoid  the  pollu- 
tions which  they  are  so  liable  to  contract,  the  ministe- 
rial functions  bear  an  indelible  impress  of  sanctity. 
The  purposes  accomplished  by  the  uiinistry  of  the 
gospel,  in  the  restoration  of  a  i\illeu  creature  to  the 
image  of  bis  Maker,  are  not  among  the  things  ichich 
were  made  for  man :  they  are  the  things  {^r  ivhich 
man  teas  made  ;  since,  without  regard  to  time  or 
place,  they  arc  essential  to  his  perfection  and  hap- 


268 

pinesis.  How  much  of  heaven  is  naturally  connect- 
ed with  an  office  whose  sole  purpose  is  to  conduct 
man  thither!  and  what  a  superiority  to  the  love  of  the 
world  may  be  expected  from  men  who  are  appoint- 
ed to  publish  that  dispensation  which  reveals  its 
danger,  detects  its  vanity,  rebukes  its  disorders, 
and  foretels  its  destruction  ! 

He  must  know  little  of  the  world,  and  still  less 
of  his  own  heart,  who  is  not  aware  how  difficult 
it  is,  amidst  the  corrupting  examples  with  which  it 
abounds,  to  maintain  the  spirit  of  devotion  unim- 
paired, or  to  preserve,  in  their  due  force  and  deli- 
cacy, these  vivid  moral  impressions,  that  quick 
perception  of  good,  and  instinctive  abhorrence  of 
evil,  which  form  the  chief  characteristic  of  a  pure 
and  elevated  mind.  These,  like  the  morning  dew, 
are  easily  bruslied  off  in  the  collisions  of  worldly 
interest,  or  exhaled  by  the  meridian  sun.  Hence 
the  necessity  of  frequent  intervals  of  retirement, 
when  the  mind  may  recover  its  scattered  powers, 
and  renew  its  strength  by  a  devout  application  to 
the  Fountain  of  all  grace. 

To  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life  we  are  rather 
indebted  for  the  triil  of  our  virtue,  than  for  the 
matter,  or  the  motive  ;  and,  however  criminal  it 
would  h^^  to  neglect  them,  in  our  present  state, 
they  can  ottly  be  reduced  under  the  dominion  of 
icligion,  by  a  general  intention  of  pleasing  God, 


S69 

But,  in  carrying  into  effect  the  designs  of  the  gos 
pel,  we  are  communicating  that  pure  element  of 
good,  which,  like  the  solar  light,  pervades  every 
part  of  the  universe,  and  forms,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe,  the  most  essential  ingredient  in 
the  felicity  of  all  created  beings. 

If  in  the  actual  commerce  of  the  world,  the  no- 
blest principles  are  often  sacrificed  to  mean  expe- 
dients, and  the  rules  of  moral  rectitude  made  to 
bend  to  the  indulgence  of  vain  and  criminal  pas- 
sions, how  happy  for  us  that  we  are  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  contemplating  them  in  th»^ir  abs^tiact  gran- 
deur, of  viewing  them  a^  an  emaaation  of  the  divine 
beauty  ;  as  the  immutable  law  ^f  the  creation,  era- 
bodied  in  the  character  of  the  Saviour,  and  illustrat- 
ed in  the  elevated  sentiments,  the  holy  lives,  and 
triumphant  deaths,  of  prophets,  saints  and  martyrs. 
IVe  are  called,  every  moment,  to  ascend  to  first 
principles,  to  stand  in  the  coimcil  of  God  and  to  im- 
bibe the  dictates  of  celestial  wisdom  in  ih^'iv  first 
communication,  before  they  become  debased,  and 
contaminated  by  a  mixture  with  grosser  elements. 

The  bane  of  human  happiness  is  ordinarily  not 
so  much  an  absolute  ignorance  of  what  is  best,  a.^ 
an  inattention  to  it,  accompanied  with  an  habit  of 
not  adverting  to  prospects  the  most  certain,  and  the 
most  awful.  But  how  can  we  be  supposed  to  con- 
tract this  inadvertence,  who  are  incessantly  engag- 


870 

ed  in  placing  truth  in  every  possible  light,  tracing 
it  in  its  utmost  extent,  and  exhibiting  it  in  all  its  ev- 
idence ?  Can  we  be  supposed  to  forget  that  day.,  and 
that  hour,  of  which  no  man  knoweth,  who  are  sta- 
tioned as  watchmen  to  give  the  alarm,  to  announce 
the  first  symptoms  of  danger,  and  to  cry  in  the  ears 
of  a  sleeping  world,  '*  behold  the  bridegroom  com- 
eth  :"  or,  however  inattentive  others  may  be  to  the 
approach  of  our  Lord,  can  it  ever  vanish  from  our 
minds,  who  are  detained  by  him  in  his  sanctuary, 
on  purpose  to  preserve  it  pure,  to  trim  the  golden 
lamps,  and  maintain  the  hallowed  fire,  that  he  may 
find  nothing  neglected,  or  in  disorder,  when  he  shall 
suddenly  come  to  his  temple,  even  the  messenger 
of  the  covenant  whom  we  delight  in  P 

Men  are  ruined  in  their  eternal  interests,  by 
failing  to  look  within  ;  by  being  so  absorbed  in 
the  pursuit  of  external  good,  as  to  neglect  the  state 
of  their  hearts.  But  can  this  be  supposed  to  be  the 
case  with  us,  who  must  never  hope  to  discharge  our 
office  with  effect,  without  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  inward  man — without  tracing  the  secret 
operations  of  nature  and  of  grace — without  closely 
inspecting  the  causes  of  revival,  and  of  decay,  in  the 
spiritual  life,  and  detecting  the  most  secret  springs, 
and  sable  artifices  of  temptation;  in  all  which,  we 
shall  be  successful,  just  in  proportion  to  the  degree 
of  devout  attention  we  bestow  on  the  movements  of 
our  own  minds. 


371 

Men  are  ruined  in  their  eternal  interests  by  liv 
ing  as  though  they  were  their  own,  and  neglecting 
to  realize  the  certainty  of  a  future  account.  But  it 
must  surely  require  no  small  effort,  to  divert  our 
attention  from  this  truth,  who  have  not  only  tlie 
same  interest  in  it  with  others,  hut  in  consequence 
of  the  care  of  souls,  possess  a  responsibility  of  a 
distinct  and  awful  character ;  since  not  one  of  those 
to  whom  that  care  extends,  can  fall  short  of  salva- 
tion through  our  neglect,  or  default,  but  his  blood 
will  be  required  at  our  hands.  Where,  in  short,  can 
we  turn  our  eyes,  without  meeting  with  incentives 
to  piety ;  what  part  of  tlie  sacred  function  can  we 
touch,  which  will  not  remind  us  of  the  beauty  of 
holiness,  the  evil  of  sin,  and  the  emptiness  of  all 
sublunary  good  ;  or,  where  we  shall  not  find  our- 
selves in  a  temple,  resounding  with  awful  voices, 
and  filled  with  holy  inspirations? 

I  feel  a  pleasing  conviction,  that,  in  consequence 
of  deriving  from  your  ministry  that  spiritual  aid  it  is 
so  adapted  to  impart,  both  your  piety  and  useful- 
ness will  continue  to  increase,  and  by  being  inti- 
mately incorporated,  aid  and  strengthen  each  other : 
so  that  your  profiting  shall  appear  unto  all  men, 
and  while  you  are  watering  others,  you  yourself 
shall  be  abundantly  watered  of  God.  Thus  will 
you  be  enabled  to  adopt  the  language  of  the  belov- 
ed Apostle,  That  which  we  have  heard,  which  we 
have  seen   with    our  eyes,  which    we  have  loolced 


S73 

tipon,  and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the  wofd  of 
life,  declare  we  unto  you.     Thus  will  you  possess 
that  unction,   from  which  your  hearers  cannot  fail, 
under  the  divine  blessing,   of  reaping  the  highest 
benefit ;  for  while  we  are  exploring  the  mines  of 
revelation,  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting  to  mankind 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  we  are  not  in  the 
situation  of  those  unhappy   men,   who  merely  toil 
for  the  advantage  of  others,  and  dare  not  appropri- 
ate to  themselves  an  atom  of  that  precious  ore,  on 
which  their  labour  is  employed  :  we  are  permitted 
and  invited,  first  to  enrich  ourselves,  and  the  more 
we  appropriate,   the  njore  shall  we  impart.     It  is 
my  earnest  prayer,  my  dear  brother,  that  you  may 
feed  the  church  of  the  Lord  which  he  has  purchased 
with  his  own  blood  ,*  that  you  may  make  full  proof 
of  your  ministry;  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of 
season  ;  teach,  exhort,  and  rebuke,  ivith  all  long- 
suffering  and  authority.  Then,  should  you  be  spar- 
ed to  your  flock,  you  will  witness  the  fruit  of  your 
labours  in  a  spiritual   plantation,   growing  under 
your  hand,  adorned  with  trees  of  righteousness,  the 
planting  of  the  Lord,  that  he  may  be  glorified  ;  and 
while  neglecting  worldly  considerations,  you   are 
intent  on  the  high  ends  of  your  calling,  inferior  sat- 
isfactions will  not  be  wanting,  but  you  will  meet, 
among  the  seals  of  your  ministry,  with  fathers  and 
motliers,  sisters  and  brothers.     Or  should  your  ca- 
reer be  prematurely  cut  short,   you  will  have  lived 
long  enou£;h  to  answer  the  purposes  of  your  being, 


373 


and  to  leave  a  record  in  the  consciences  of  your 
hearers,  which  will  not  suffer  you  soon  to  be  for- 
gotten. Though  dead,  you  will  still  speak ;  you 
will  speak  from  the  tomb ;  it  may  be,  in  accents 
more  powerful  and  persuasive,  than  your  living 
voice  could  command.* 


*  Of  this  we  have  a  striking  instance  in  the  premature  death  of  the 
late  Mr.  Spencer,  of  Liverpool.  The  sensition  excited  by  the  sudden 
removal  of  that  extraordinary  young  man,  accompanied  with  such  affect- 
ing' circumstances,  has  not  subsided,  nor  abated  as  we  are  informed, 
much  of  its  force.  The  event  which  has  drawn  so  great  a  degree  of  atten- 
tion, has  been  well  improved  in  several  excellent  discourses  on  the  occa- 
sion. The  unequalled  admiration  he  excited  while  living,  and  the  deep 
and  universal  concern  expressed  at  his  death,  demonstrate  him  to  have 
been  no  ordinary  chai-acter;  but  one  of  these  rare  specimens  of  human 
nature,  which  the  great  Author  of  it  produces  at  distant  intervals,  and 
exhibits  for  a  moment,  while  he  is  hastening  to  make  them  up  amongst 
his  jewels.  The  higli  hopes  entertai&ed  of  this  admirable  youth,  and  the 
sliock  approaching^  to  consternation,  occasioned  by  his  death,  will,  proba* 
bly,  remind  the  classical  reader  of  the  inimitable  lines  of  Virgil  on  Mar- 
cellus. 

O  nate,  ingentem  luctum  ne  quaere  tuorum. 

Ostendent  terris  hunc  tantum  fata,  neque  ultra 

Esse  sinent. 

The  writer  of  this  deeply  regrets  his  never  having  had  an  opportunity 
of  witnessing  his  extraordinary  powers  ;  but  from  all  he  has  heard  froijn 
the  best  judges,  he  can  entertain  no  doubt,  that  his  talents  in  the  pulpit 
were  unrivalled,  and  that  had  his  life  been  spared,  he  would,  in  all  pro- 
bability, have  carried  the  talent  of  preaching  to  a  greater  perfection 
than  it  ever  attained,  at  least,  in  this  kingdom.  His  eloquence  appears 
to  have  been  of  the  purest  stamp,  effective,  not  ostentatious,  consisting 
less  in  the  striking  preponderance  of  any  one  quality,  requisite  to  form  a 
public  speaker,  than  in  an  exquisite  combination  of  them  all;  whence 
rtsulted  an  extraordinary  power  of  impression,  which  was  greatly  aided 
by  a  natural  and  majestic  elocution.     To  these  eminent  endowments,  Ire 

35 


added,  from  the  unanimous  testimony  of  those  who  knew  him  best, »  hu- 
mility and  modesty ;  which,  while  they  concealed  a  great  part  of  his 
excellencies  from  himself,  rendered  them  the  more  engaging  and  attrac- 
tive. When  we  reflect  on  these  circumstances,  we  need  the  leis  wonder 
at  the  passionate  concern  excited  by  his  death.  For  it  may  truly  be  said, 
of  him,  as  of  St.  Stephen,  that  devout  men  made  great  lamentation  over 
him.  May  the  impressions  produced  by  the  event  never  be  effaced  ;  and 
above  all,  may  it  have  the  effect  of  engaging  such  as  arc  embarked  in  the 
Christian  ministry,  to  toork  rvhile  it  i«  called  to-day. 


THE  WORK 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


BY  ROBERT  HALL,  A.  M. 


FROM    THE    LATEST    LONDON    EDITION. 


THE  WORK 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


1  HE  regeneration  and  growth  in  holiness,  of  every 
Christian,  are  to  be  primarily  attributed  to  the  ope- 
ration of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Without  this,  nothing 
can  be  done  or  attained,  to  any  important  purpose, 
in  religion.  Your  candid  attention  is  requested 
to  a  few  hints  respecting  the  means  connected 
with  the  enjoyment  of  that  blessed  influence.  The 
numerous  cautions,  warnings,  and  advices  with 
which  the  mention  of  this  subject  is  joined  in  the 
sacred  writings,  suflBce  to  show  that  the  doctrine 
of  which  it  treats  is  a  practical  doctrine,  not  design- 
ed to  supersede  the  use  of  means,  or  the  exercise 
of  our  rational  powers,  but  rather  to  stimulate  us 
to  exertion,  and  teach  us  how  to  exert  them  aright. 
*^  If  ye  live  in  the  Spirit,  walk  in  the  Spirit. 
Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  ye  arc 
sealed  to  the  day  of  redemption." 

The  Spirit,  we  must  remember,  is  a  most  free 
Agent,  and  though  he  will  not  utterly  forsake  the 


S78 

work  of  his  hands,  he  may  be  expected  to  with- 
draw himself,  in  a  great  measure,  on  being  slighted, 
neglected,  or  opposed ;  and  as  our  holiness  and  com- 
fort depend  entirely  upon  him,  it  is  important  for 
us  to  know  what  deportment  is  calculated  to  invite, 
and  what  to  repel,  his  presence. 

1.  If  we  would  wish  for  much  of  the  presence  of 
God  by  his  Spirit,  we  must  learn  to  set  a  high  va- 
lue upon  it.  The  first  communication  of  spiritual 
influence,  is,  indeed,  imparted  without  this  requi- 
site ;  for  it  cannot  be  possessed  in  any  adequate 
degree  except  by  those  who  have  tasted  that  the 
Lord  is  gracious.  "  I  am  found  of  them  that 
sought  me  not."  But  in  subsequent  donations,  the 
Lord  seems  very  much  to  regulate  his  conduct  by 
a  rule — that  of  bestowing  his  richest  favours  where 
he  knows  they  are  most  coveted,  and  will  be  most 
prized.  The  principle  whence  divine  communica- 
tions flow,  is  free  unmerited  benignity  ;  but  in  the 
mode  of  dispensing  its  fruits,  it  is  worthy  of  the  Su- 
preme Ruler  to  consult  his  own  majesty,  by  with- 
liolding  a  copious  supply,  till  he  has  excited  in  the 
heart  a  profound  estimation  of  his  gifts. 

No  words  are  adequate  to  express  the  excel- 
lence and  dignity  of  the  gift  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 
While  Solomon  was  dedicating  the  temple,  his  great 
soul  appears  to  have  been  put  into  a  rapture  at  the 
very  idea  that  he  whom  the  heaven  of  heavens  could 


S79 

not  contain  should  deign  to  dwell  with  man  upon 
the  earth.  How  much  more  should  each  of  us  be 
transported  when  he  finds  the  idea  realized,  by  his 
own  heart  having  become  the  seat  of  the  divine 
presence.  There  are  two  considerations  drawn 
from  Scripture,  which  assist  us  in  forming  a  con- 
ception of  the  magnitude  of  this  blessing. 

The  first  is,  that  it  is  the  great  promise  of  the 
christian  dispensation,  and  stands  in  nearly  the 
same  relation  to  us,  that  the  coming  of  the  Mes- 
siah did  to  pious  Jews.  They  waited  for  the  con- 
solation of  Israel  in  the  birth  of  Christ ;  and  now 
that  that  event  is  past,  we  are  waiting,  in  a  similar 
manner,  for  the  promise  of  the  Spirit,  of  which  the 
church  has  hitherto  enjoyed  but  the  first  fruits. 
To  this  the  Saviour,  after  his  resurrection,  pointed 
the  expectation  of  his  apostles,  as  emphatically  the 
promise  of  the  Father,  which  they  were  to  receive 
at  the  distance  of  a  few  days ;  and  when  it  was 
accomplished  at  the  day  of  Pentecost,  we  find  Peter 
insisting  on  it  as  the  most  illustrious  proof  of  his 
ascension,  as  well  as  the  chfef  fruit  that  converts 
were  to  reap  from  their  repentance  and  baptism. 
"  Repent  and  be  baptized,"  said  he,  "  every  one  of 
you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost :  for  the  promise  (that  is,  the  promise  of  the 
Spirit)  is  to  you,  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all 
that  are  afar  off,   even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our 


§80 

God  shall  call.*'  The  apostle  Paul  places  it  in  a 
similar  light,  when  he  tells  us,  "  Christ  has  re- 
deemed us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made 
a  curse  for  us,  that  the  blessing  of  Abraham  might 
come  upon  the  Gentiles  :''  and  in  what  that  bless- 
ing consists,  he  informs  us,  by  adding,  "  that  we 
might  receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  by  faith." 
On  this  account,  probably,  he  is  styled  the  Spirit 
of  promise,  that  is,  the  Spirit  so  often  promised  ; 
in  the  communication  of  whom,  the  promises  of  God 
so  centre,  that  it  may  be  considered  as  the  sum  and 
substance  of  all  the  promises. 

Another   consideration,  which    evinces   the   su- 
preme importance  of  this  gift,  is,  that,  in  the  esteem 
of  our  Lord,  it  was  more  than   a  compensation  to 
his  disciples  for  the  loss  of  his  bodily  presence ; 
so  much  superior  to  it,  that  he  tells  them,  it  was  ex- 
pedient he  should  leave  them  in  order  to  make  way 
for  it :  "  If  I  go  not  away,  the  C3timforter  will  not 
come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I   depart,  I  will   send  him 
unto  you."     Great  as  the  advantages   were,  which 
they  derived   from  his   society,  yet  they  remained 
in  a  slate  of  minority  ;  their  views  were  contracted, 
their  hearts  full  of  earthly  adhesions,  and  a  degree 
of  carnality  and  prejudice  attended  them,  which  it 
was  the  office  of  t!ie  Spirit  only  to  remove.     From 
his  more  ample  and  effectual  teaching,  a  great  in- 
crease of  knowledge  was  to  accrue,  to  qualify  them 
for  their  work  of  bearing  witness  to  Christ,  and  a 


281 

powerful  energy  to  go  forth,  wliieli  was  to  render 
their  ministry,  though  in  themselves  so  much  infe- 
rior, far  more  successful  than  the  personal  ministry 
of  our  Lord.     In   consequence  of  liis  agency,  the 
apostles  were  to  become  enlightened  and  intrepid, 
and  the  world   convinced.     "  I  have  many  things 
to  say  to  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now.     But 
when  the  Spirit  of  truth  is  come,  he  will  lead  you 
into  all  truth.     He  will  convince  the  world  of  sin, 
of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment."     Accordingly, 
after  his   descent,   we  find   the   apostles  strangely 
transformed  :    an   unction,   a  fervour,  a  boldness, 
marked  their  character,  to  which  they  had  hitherto 
been  strangers  ;  and  such  conviction  attended  their 
preaching,  that  in  a  short  time   a  great  part  of  the 
world  sunk  under  the  weapons  of  their  holy  war- 
fare.    Nor  is  there  any  pretence  for  alleging,  that 
this  communication  was  confined  to  miraculous  sifts, 
since  it  is  asserted   to  be  that  Spirit  which  should 
abide  in  them  for  ever,  and  by  which    the   church 
should  be  distinguished  from  the  world.     He  is 
styled,  "  the  Spirit  of  truth,  whom  the  world  could 
not  receive,  because  it  seeth  him  not,  neither  know- 
eth  him  :"  but  it  is  added,   "Ye  know  him,  for  he 
dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you.'^ 

As  we  are  indebted  to  the  Spirit  for  the  first 
formation  of  the  divine  life,  so  it  is  He  who  alone 
can  maintain  it,  and  render  it  strong  and  vigorous. 
It  is  his  office  to  actuate  the   habits  of  grace  where 

36 


283 

they  are  already  planted  ;  to  hold  our  souls  in  life, 
and  to  "  strengthen  us  that  we  may  walk  up  and 
down  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  It  Is  his  oflSee  to 
present  the  mysteries  of  salvation  ;  the  truths  which 
relate  to  the  mediation  of  Christ  and  the  riches  of 
his  grace,  in  so  penetrating  and  transforming  a  man- 
ner, as  to  render  them  vital,  operating  principles, 
the  food  and  the  solace  of  our  spirits.  Without  his 
agency,  however  intrinsically  excellent,  they  will 
be  to  us  mere  dead  speculation,  an  inert  mass  :  it  is 
only  when  they  are  animated  by  his  breath,  that 
they  become  spirit  and  life. 

It  is  his  office  to  afford  that  anointing  by  which 
we  may  know  all  things ;  by  a  light  which  is  not 
merely  directive  to  the  understanding,  but  which  so 
shines  upon  the  heart,  as  to  give  a  relish  of  the 
sweetness  of  divine  truth,  and  effectually  produce  a 
compliance  with  its  dictates.  It  belongs  to  him 
'^  to  seal  us  to  the  day  of  redemption,''  to  put  that 
mark  and  character  upon  us,  which  distinguishes 
the  children  of  God,  as  well  as  to  afford  a  foretaste, 
as  an  earnest  of  the  future  inheritance.  ^^  And 
hereby,"  saith  an  apostle,  "vve  know  that  we  are 
of  God,  by  the  Spirit  which  he  hath  given  us."  It 
is  his  office  to  subdue  the  corruption  of  our  nature, 
not  by  leaving  us  inactive  spectators  of  the  combat, 
but  by  engaging  us  to  a  determined  resistance  to  ev- 
ery sinful  propensity,  by  teaching  our  hands  to  war, 
and  our  fingers  to  fight,  so  that  the  victory  shall  be 


283 

ours,  and  the  praise  bis.     To  lielp  the  infirmities  of 
saints,  who  know  not  what  to  pray  for  as  they  ought, 
by  making  intercession  for  them  '*  with  groaningi 
which  cannot  he  uttered,"  is  an  important  branch 
of  his  office.     He  kindles  their  desires,  gives  them 
a  glimpse  of  the  fulness  of  God,  that   all-compre- 
hending  good  :  and  by  exciting  a  relish  of  the  beau- 
ties of  holiness,   and  the  ineffable  pleasure  which 
springs  from  nearness  to  God,  disposes  them  to  the 
fervent  and  effectual  prayer  which  avail eth  much. 
In  short,  as  Christ  is  the  way  to  the  Father,  so  it  is 
equally  certain,  that  the   Spirit  is  the  fountain  of 
all  the  light  and  strength  which  enable  us  to  walk 
in  that  way.     Lest  it  should  be  suspected   that  in 
ascribing  so  much  to  the  agency  of  the  Spirit,  we 
diminish  the  obligations  we  owe  to  the  Redeemer, 
it  may  not  be  improper  to  remark,  that  the  tendency 
of  what  we  have  advanced,  rightly  understood,  will 
be  just  the  contrary,  since  the  Scriptures  constant- 
ly remind  us,  that  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the 
fruit  of  his  mediation,  and  the  result  of  iiis  death. 
It  was  his  interposing  as    "  Emmanuel,   God  with 
us,"  to  repair  the  breach  betwixt  man  and  God,  that 
prevailed    upon   the   Father   to   communicate    the 
Spirit  to  such  as  believe  on  him,  and  to  intrust  the 
whole  agency  of  it  to  his  hands.     As  the  reward  of 
his   sufferings,  he  ascended   on  high,  and  received 
gifts  for  men  ;  of  which,  the  right  ol'  bestowing  the 
Spirit  is  the  principal,  that  the  Lord  God    might 
dwell  among  them.     The  donation,  in  every  in 


284j 

stance,  through  the  successive  periods  "bf  the 
church,  looks  back  to  the  death  of  the  Redeemer, 
as  the  root  and  principle  whence  it  takes  its  rise, 
and  consequently  is  calculated  to  enlarge  our  con- 
ceptions of  his  oifice  and  character,  as  the  copious- 
ness of  the  streams  evinces  the  exuberance  of  the 
fountain.  To  him  the  Spirit  was  first  given  above 
measure ;  in  him  it  resides  as  an  inexhaustible 
spring,  to  be  imparted  in  the  dispensation  of  his 
gospel  to  every  member  of  his  mystical  body,  in 
pursuance  of  the  purpose  of  his  grace  and  th*e  ends 
of  his  death.  It  is  his  Spirit :  hence  we  read  of 
"  the  supply  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  Jesus,"  not 
only  by  reason  of  the  essential  union  which  sub- 
sists between  the  persons  of  the  Godhead,  but  be- 
cause the  right  of  bestowing  it  was  ascertained  to 
him  in  the  covenant  of  redemption. 

3.  If  we  would  wish  to  enjoy  much  of  the  light 
and  influence  of  the  Spirit,  we  must  seek  it  by 
fervent  prayer.  There  are  peculiar  encouragements 
held  out  in  the  word  of  God  to  this  purpose.  "  Ask, 
and  ye  shall  receive ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ; 
knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.''  To  il- 
lustrate the  readiness  of  our  heavenly  Father  to 
bestow  this  bles*sing,  our  Lord  borrows  a  compari- 
son from  the  instinct  of  paiental  alfection,  which 
prompts  a  parent  to  give  with  alacrity  good  things 
to  his  children.  He  will  not  merely  supply  their 
wants,  which  benevolence  might  prompt  him  to  do 


385 

with  respect  to  a  stranger ;  but  lie  will  do  it  with 
feelings  peculiar  to  the  parental  relation,  and  will 
experience  as  much  pleasure  in  conferring  as  the 
child  in  receiving,  his  favours.  It  is  thus  with 
our  heavenly  Father  :  he  delights  in  exercising 
kindness  to  his  children,  and  especially  in  promot- 
ing their  spiritual  welfare.  He  gives  not  merely 
with  the  liberality  of  a  prince,  but  with  the  heart 
of  a  father.  It  is  worth  remarking,  that  in  relating 
the  preceding  discourse,  while  one  evangelist 
makes  express  mention  of  the  Spirit,  another 
speaks  only  of  good  things,  intimating  that  the 
communications  of  the  Spirit  comprehend  what- 
ever is  good.  Other  things  may,  or  may  not,  be 
ultimately  beneficial  :  they  are  eiiher  of  a  doubtful 
nature  in  themselves,  or  are  rendered  so  by  the 
propensity  our  corruption  gives  us  to  abuse  them. 
But  the  influence  of  the  Spirit,  by  its  etficucy  in 
subduing  that  corruption,  must  be  invariably  bene- 
ficial :  it  is  such  an  immediate  emanation  from  God, 
the  foundation  of  blessedness,  that  it  can  never  fail 
of  being  intrinsically,  essentially,  and  eternally 
good.  It  is  also  deserving  onr  attention,  that  the 
injunction  of  seeking  it  by  prayer,  is  prefaced  by  a 
parable  constructed  on  purpose  to  teach  us  the 
propriety  of  urging  our  suit  with  importunity.  In 
imploring  other  gifts,  (which  we  are  at  liberty  to 
do  with  submission,)  it  is  still  a  great  point  of 
duty  to  moderate  our  desires,  and  to  be  prepared 
for  a  disappointment;  because,  as  we  have  already 


286 

remarked,  it  is  possible  that  the  things  we  are 
seeking,  may  conduce  neither  to  the  glory  of  God, 
nor  to  our  ultimate  benefit;    "for   wbo   knoweth 
what  is  good  for  man  in   this  life  all  the   days  of 
his  vain  life  ?"    But  when  we  present  our  requests 
for  a  larger  measure  of  his  grace,  we  labour  under 
no  such  uncertainty,  we  may  safely  let  forth  all  the 
ardour  and  vehemence  of  our  spirits,  since  our  de- 
sires are  fixed  upon  what  is  the  very  knot  and  junc- 
ture, where  the  honour  of  God  and  the  interests  of 
his  creatures  are  indissolubly  united.    Desires  after 
grace  are,  in  fact,  desires  after  God :   and  how  is  it 
possible  for  them  to  be  too  vehement  or  intense,  when 
directed  to  such  an  object  ?    His  gracious  presence 
is  not,  like  the  limited  goods  of  this  life,  fitted  to  a 
particular  crisis,  or  adapted  to  a  special  exigency,  in 
a  fluctuating  scene  of  things ;  it  is  equally  suited  to 
all  times  and  seasons,  the  food  of  souls,  the  proper 
good  of  man,  under  every  aspect  of  Providence,  and 
every  change  of  worlds.     "  My  soul,"   said  David, 
"  panteth  after  God,  yea,  for  the  living  God.     My 
soul  followeth  hard  after  thee  :    thy  right  hand  up- 
holdeth  me."     The  most  eminent  effusions   of  the 
Spirit  we  read  of  in  scripture,  were  not  only  afforded 
to  prayer,   but   appear  to  have  taken  place  at  the 
very  time  that  that  exercise  was  performed.     The 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
was  while  the  disciples  were  with  one  accord  in  one 
place ;    and  after  the  imprisonment   of  Peter  and 
John,  whoj  being  dismissed;  went  to  their  own  com- 


JS87 

pany.  *'  While  they  prayed,  the  place  were  they 
were  assemhled  was  shaken  with  a  mighty  wind, 
and  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost." — 
When  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit  are  promised  in 
Ezekiel,  it  is  added,  "  I  will  yet  for  this  he  inquir- 
ed of  by  the  House  of  Israel,  to  do  it  for  them/' 

3.  Habitual  dependence  on  divine  influence  is 
an  important  duty.  This  may  be  considered  as  op- 
posed to  two  things  ;  first,  to  depending  off  ourselves, 
to  the  neglect  of  divine  agency  ;  next,  to  despon- 
dency and  distrust. 

When  the  Holy  Spirit  has  condescended  to  take 
the  conduct  of  souls,  it  is  unquestionably  great 
presumption  to  enter  upon  duty  in  the  same  manner 
as  if  no  such  assistance  were  needed,  or  to  be  ex- 
pected ;  and  the  result  will  be  as  with  Samson, 
who  said,  "  I  will  go  forth  and  shake  myself,  as  in 
time  past ;  and  he  wist  not  that  the  Lord  was  depart- 
ed from  him."  It  is  one  thing  to  acknowledge  a 
dependence  on  heavenly  influence  in  speculation, 
and  another  thing  so  to  realize  and  feel  it,  as  to  say 
from  the  heart,  "  I  will  go  in  the  strength  of  the 
Lord  God."  A  mere  assent  to  the  proposition, 
that  the  Spirit  must  concur  in  the  production  of 
every  great  work,  (an  assent  not  easily  withheld 
without  rejecting  the  scriptures,)  falls  very  short 
of  the  practical  homage  due  from  feel)le  worms  to 
so  great  an  Agent:  and  a  most  solemn  and  explicit 


S88 

acknowleclgment  of  entire  dependence  may  rea- 
sonably be  expected.  When  you  engage  in  prayer, 
or  in  any  other  duty,  endeavour  to  enter  upon  it 
with  a  serious  and  deliberate  recollection  of  your 
need  of  the  spirit.  Let  the  consciousness  of  your 
weakness  and  insufficiency  for  every  good  work, 
be  a  sentiment  rendered  familiar  to  your  minds,  and 
deeply  impressed  on  your  hearts. 

But  while  we  recommend  this,  there  is  another 
extreme  against  which  we  think  it  our  duty  to  guard 
you,  and  that  is  a  disposition    to  despondency  and 
distrust.     We  are  most  ready  to  acknowledge  that 
the  assistance  you  need  is  free  and  gratuitous,  neither 
given  to  our  deservings,  nor  flowing  from  any  con- 
nection subsisting  betwixt  our  endeavours   and  the 
exertion  of  divine  agency.      The  spirit  of  God  is  a 
free   spirit  ;    and  it  is  impossible  to   conceive  how 
either  faith  or  prayer  should  have  an  intrinsic  efl&cacy 
in  drawing  down  influence  from  heaven.     There  is, 
however,  a  connection  established  by  divine  voueh- 
safement,  which  entitles  believers  to  expect,  in  the 
use  of  means,  such  measures  of  gracious  assistance 
as  are  requisite  to  sustain  and  support  them  in  their 
religious  course.     The   Spirit  is  spoken   of  as  the 
matter  of  promise  to  which  every  christian  is  encou- 
raged to  look  :    "  The  promise  is  to  you,  and  to  your 
children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  to  as  many 
as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call."     Agreeably  to  this, 
it  is  represented  as  the  express  purpose  of  Christ^* 


289 

I)ecomiug  a  curse  for  us,  that  the  ^*  promise  of  the 
Spirit  might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through  faith." 
The  same  expectation  is  justified  by  the  Saviour's 
own  declaration,  when  on  the  last  and  great  day  of 
the  feast  he  stood  and  cried,  ^'  Whoever  is  atliirst, 
let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink,  for  he  tliat  believeth 
on  me,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living 
water  :  this"  (says  the  Evangelist.)  ^*  he  spake  of 
the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believe  on  him  should 
receive." 

The  readiness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  communicate 
himself  to  true  believers,  is  also  evinced  by  the  tenor 
of  evangelical  precepts  :  '^  Be  ye  strong  in  the  Lord, 
and  in  the  power  of  liis  might."  To  command  a 
person  to  be  strong,  seems  strange  and  unusual  lan- 
guage, but  is  sufficiently  explained  when  we  reflect, 
that  a  portion  of  spiritual  power  is  ready  to  be  com- 
municated to  those  who  duly  seek  it :  *^Be  ye  filled 
with  the  Spirit,"  which  is  the  exhortation  of  the 
same  apostle,  takes  it  for  granted  that  a  copious  sup- 
ply is  at  hand,  sufficient  to  satiate  the  desires  of  the 
saints.  We  are  at  a  loss  to  account  for  such  pre- 
cepts, without  supposing  an  established  connecUoii 
betwixt  the  condition  of  believers  and  the  farther 
communication  of  divine  influence.  To  the  same 
purport,  Paul  speaks  with  apostolic  authority, 
'•  This,  I  say,  walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not 
fulfil  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  ;"  and  Jude  incnlcaHs  the 
duty  of  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  would  he 

37 


290 

strange  if  no  assistance  were  to  be  obtained  ;  and  a» 
prayer  is  a  duty  of  daily  occurrence,  the  injunction 
implies  that  it  is  ready  to  be  imparted  to  Christians^ 
not  by  fits  and  starts,  or  at  distant  intervals,  but  in 
a  stated  regular  course. 

For  this  reason,  when  we  hear  Christians  com- 
plaining of  the  habitual  withdrawment  of  the  Di- 
vine Presence,  we  are  under  the  necessity  of  as- 
cribing it  to  their  own  fault :  not  that  we  mean  to 
deny  there  is  much  of  sovereignty  in  this  affair,  or 
that  "  the  Spirit,  like  the  wind,  bloweth  where  it 
listetb."  But  it  should  be  remembered,  we  are 
now  adverting  to  the  situation  of  real  believers,  who 
are  entitled  to  the  promise  ;  and  though  it  is  proba- 
ble that  there  is  much  of  sovereignty  exercised 
even  with  respect  to  tJiem,  we  apprehend  it  rather 
concerns  those  influences  which  are  consolatory 
ihan  such  as  are  sanctifying ;  though  there  is  a  de- 
gree of  satisfaction  intermingled  with  every  exer- 
cise of  genuine  piety,  yet  it  is  manifest  that  some 
influences  of  the  Spirit  tend  more  immediately  to 
comfort,  others  to  purification.  By  some  we  are 
engaged  in  the  fixed  contemplation  of  objects  which 
exist  out  of  ourselves,  the  perfections  of  God,  the 
excellency  of  Christ,  the  admirable  constitution  of 
the  Gospel,  accompanied  with  a  delightful  connec- 
tion of  a  personal  interest  in  whatever  comes  under 
our  view  ;  the  natural  food  of  which  is  •*  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory."     By  otheri  we  are 


29i 

more  immediately  impressed  with  a  lasting  sense 
of  our  extreme  unworthiness,  and  made  to  mourn 
over  remaining  corruption,  and  the  criminal  defects 
inherent  in  our  best  services. 

In  the  midst  of  such  exercises,  it  is  possible  that 
hope  may  languish  and  comfort  be  reduced  to  a  low 
ebb,  yet  the  divine  life  may  still  be  advancing,  and 
the  soul  growing  in  humility,  deadness  to  the  world 
and  the  mortification  of  her  own  will,  as  the  sap 
during  winter  retires  to  the  root  of  the  plant,  ready 
to  ascend  and  produce  verdure  and  beauty  on  the 
return  of  spring.  Tliis  is  the  will  of  God,  even  our 
eanctification ;  and  though  be  delights  in  comforting 
his  people  at  proper  seasons,  he  is  much  less  intent 
on  this  than  on  promoting  their  spiritual  improve- 
ment, to  which  in  this  their  probationary  state  every 
thing  is  made  subservient.  Let  us  not  then  con- 
found the  decay  of  consolation  with  the  decay  of 
piety,  nor  imagine  we  can  want  the  aids  necessary 
to  prevent  the  latter,  unless  we  have  forfeited  them 
by  presumption,  negligence,  and  slotli.  Whenever 
Christians  sensibly  decline  in  religion,  they  ought 
to  charge  themselves  with  the  guilt  of  having  griev- 
ed the  Spirit ;  they  should  take  the  alarm,  repent, 
and  do  their  first  works ;  they  are  suffering  under 
the  rebukes  of  that  paternal  justice  which  God  ex- 
ercises  in  his  own  family.  Such  a  measure  of  gra- 
cious assistance  in  the  use  of  means,  being  by  the 
tenor  of  the  new  covenant  ascertained  to  real  Chris- 


892 

tians,  as  is  requisite  for  their  comfortable  walk  with 
Goa,  10  find  it  withheld  should  engage  them  in 
deep  searciiings  of  heart,  and  make  them  fear  lest, 
"  a  promise  being  left  them  of  entering  into  rest, 
they  should  appear  to  come  short  of  it.''  But  this 
leads  us  to  observe,  in  the  last  place,  that, 

4.  If  we  wish  to  enjoy  the  light  of  the  Spirit, 
we  must  take  care  to  maintain  a  deportment  suited 
to  the  character  of  that  Divine  Agent.  When  the 
apostle  exhorts  us  not  to  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God, 
by  which  we  are  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemption, 
it  is  forcibly  implied,  that  he  is  susceptible  of  of- 
fence, and  that  to  offend  him  involves  heinous  in- 
gratitude and  folly :  ingratitude,  for  what  a  re- 
quital is  this  for  being  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemp- 
tion !  and  folly,  inasmuch  as  we  may  fitly  say  on 
this,  as  Paul  did  on  a  different  occasion,  *'  Who 
is  he  that  maketh  us  glad,  but  the  same  that  is 
made  sorry  by  us?"  Have  we  any  other  com- 
forter when  he  is  withdrawn  ?  Can  a  single  ray 
of  light  visit  us  in  his  absence,  or  can  we  be  safe 
for  a  moment  without  his  guidance  and  support? 
If  the  immense  and  infinite  Spirit,  by  a  mysterious 
condescension,  deigns  to  undertake  the  conduct  of 
a  worm,  ought  it  not  to  yield  the  most  implicit 
submission  ?  The  appropriate  duty  owing  to  a 
faithful  and  experienced  guide,  is  a  ready  compli- 
ance with  his  dictates:  and  how  much  more  may 
this  be  expected,  when  the  disparity  betwixt  the 


SOS 

parties  in  question  is  no  less  than  infinite  !  The 
language  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  describing  the 
manners  of  the  ancient  Israelites,  is  awfully  moni- 
tory to  professors  in  every  age  ;  "  They  rebelletl, 
and  vexed  his  Holy  Spirit ;  therefore  he  turned  to 
be  their  enemy,  and  fought  against  them.''  As  we 
wish  to  avoid  whatever  is  more  curious  than  useful^ 
we  shall  not  stay  to  inquire  precisely  on  what 
occasions,  or  to  what  extent,  the  Spirit  is  capable 
of  being  resisted  :  it  may  be  sufficient  to  observe, 
it  is  evident  from  melancholy  experience,  that  it  is 
very  possible  to  neglect  what  is  the  obvious  tenden- 
cy of  his  motions,  which  is  invariably  to  produce 
universal  holiness.  ^'  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is 
love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  goodness,  meek- 
ness, gentleness,  temperance,  faith  :"  whatever  is 
contrary  to  these,  involves  an  opposition  to  the 
Spirit,  and  is  directly  calculated  to  quench  his 
sacred  influence. 

From  his  descending  on  Christ  in  the  form  of 
a  dove,  as  well  as  from  many  express  decla- 
rations of  Scripture,  we  may  with  certainty  con- 
clude the  indulgence  of  all  the  irascible  and  malig- 
nant passions  to  be  peculiarly  repugnant  to  his 
nature;  and  it  is  remarkable,  that  the  injunction  of 
not  grieving  the  Holy  Spirit  is  immediately  follow- 
ed by  a  particular  caution  against  cherishing  such 
dispositions  :  "  Let  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and 
anger,  and   clamour,   and   evil    speaking,   be   put 


S94 

away  from  you,  with  all  malice.  And  be  ye  kind 
one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one 
another,  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven 
you."  Have  you  not  fo^ind  by  experience,  that 
the  indulgence  of  the  former  has  destroyed  that 
self- recollection  and  composure,  which  are  so  es- 
sential to  devotion  ?  Vindictive  passions  surround 
the  soul  with  a  sort  of  turbulent  atmosphere,  than 
which  nothing  can  be  conceived  more  opposite  to 
that  calm  and  holy  light  in  which  the  blessed  Spirit 
loves  to  dwell.  The  indulgence  of  sensual  lusts, 
or  of  whatever  enslaves  the  soul  to  the  appetites  of 
the  body,  in  violation  of  the  rules  of  sobriety  and 
chastity,  it  seems  almost  unnecessary  to  add,  must 
have  a  direct  tendency  to  quench  his  sacred  influ- 
ences ;  wherever  such  desires  prevail,  they  war 
against  the  soul,  immerse  it  in  carnality,  and  ut- 
terly indispose  it  to  every  thing  spiritual  and 
heavenly.  *'  That  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is 
spirit ;"  it  bears  a  resemblance  to  its  Author  in 
being  a  spiritual  production,  which  requires  to  be 
nourished  by  divine  meditation,  by  pure  and  holy 
thoughts. 

If  you  wish  to  live  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Spirit, 
you  must  guard  with  no  less  care  against  the  en- 
croachments of  worldly-mindedness,  recollecting  we 
are  Christians  just  as  far  as  our  treasure  and  our 
hearts  are  planted  in  heaven,  and  no  further.  A 
heart  overcharged  with  the  cares  of  this  world,  is  as 


S95 

much  disqualified  for  converse  witli  God,  and  for 
walking  in  the  Spirit,  as  it  would  be  by  surfeiting 
and  drunkenness  ;  to  which,  by  their  tendency  to 
intoxicate  and  stupify,  they  bear  a  great  resem- 
blance. ' 

How    many,  by    an   immoderate   attachment   to 
wealth,  and   by  being  determined  at  all  events  to  j 
become  rich,    "  have   fallen  into  divers  foolish  and  I 
hurtful  lusts,  and  pierced  themselves  through  with  | 
many  sorrows  ;"   and  where  the  result  has  uot  been 
so  signally  disastrous,  a  visible  languor  in  religion 
has  ensued,  the  friendship  of  serious  Christians  hag 
been  shunned,  and  the  public  ordinances  of  religioii 
attended  with  little  fruit  or  advantage  !    As  it  is  the 
design  of  the  Spirit  in  his  sacred  visitations  to  foriji 
us  for  an  habitual  converse  with  spiritual  and  eter- 
nal objects,  nothing  can  tend  more  directly  to  coi- 
tract  it,  than  to  bury  our  souls  in  earth  ;  it  is  as  im- 
possible for  the  eye  of  the  mind   as  for  that  of  tlie 
body  to  look  opposite  ways  at  once ;  nor  can  ^e 
aim  supremely  at   "  the  things  which  are  seen  aintl 
temporal,"  but  by  losing  sight  of  those   •'  which  are 
unseen  and  eternal."  1 

But  though  a  general  attention  to  the  dutiejs  of 
piety  and  virtue,  and  a  careful  avoidance  o^  the 
sins  opposed  to  these,  arc  certainly  includedjin  a 
becoming  deportment  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  pej'haps 
it  is  not  all  that  is  included.     The  chikhen  o^  God 


396 

arc  characterized  in  Scripture  by  their  beiug  "  let! 
by  the  Spirit:"*  led,  evidently  not  impelled,  nor 
driven  forward  in  a  headlong  course,  without  choice 
or  design ;  but,  being,  by  the  constitution  of  their 
nature,  rational  and  intelligent,  and  by  the  influ- 
ence of  grace,  rendered  spiritual,  they  are  disposed 
to  obey  at  a  touch,  and  to  comply  with  the  gentler 
insinuations  of  divine  grace  ;  they  are  ready  to 
take  that  precise  impression  which  corresponds 
w  ith  the  mind  and  purpose  of  tlie  Spirit.  You  are 
aware  of  what  consequence  it  is  in  worldly  concerns 
to  embrace  opportunities,  and  to  improve  critical 
seasons  ;  and  thus,  in  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  there 
ire  times  peculiarly  favourable,  moments  of  happy 
Tisitation,  where  much  more  may  be  done  towards 
the  advancement  of  our  spiritual  interest  than  usual. 
There  are  gales  of  the  Spirit,  unexpected  influences 
of  light  and  of  power,  which  no  assiduity  in  the 
means  of  grace  can  command,  but  which  it  is  a  great 
piiint  of  wisdom  to  improve.  If  the  husbandman  is 
attentive  to  the  vicissitudes  of  weather,  and  the 
face  of  the  sky,  that  he  may  be  prepared  to  take  t!ie 
full  benefit  of  every  gleam  of  sunshine,  and  every 
falling  shower,  how  much  more  alert  and  attentive 
should  we  be,  in  watching  for  those  influences  from 
above,  which  are  necessary  to  ripen  and  mature  a 
far  more  precious  crop  !  As  the  natural  consequencei 
of  being  long  under  the  guidance  of  another,  is  a 
quick  perception  of  his  meaning,  so  that  we  can 
meet  his  wishes,  before  they  arc  verbally  expressed } 


S97 

something  of  this  ready  discernment,  accompanied 
with  instant  compliance,  may  reasonably  be  expect- 
ed from  those  who  profess  to  be  habitually  led  by 
the  Spirit.  '^  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them 
that  fear  him."     Psalm  xxv.  14. 

The  design  of  his  operation  is  in  one  view  in- 
variably the  same — the  production  of  holiness  ;  but 
the  branches  of  which  that  consists,  and  the  exer- 
cises of  mind  which  are  rendered  subservient  to  it, 
are  various,  and  he  who  is  intent  on  walking  in  the 
Spirit,  will  be  careful  to  fall  in  with  that  train  of 
thought,  and  cherish  that  cast  of  reflection,  to  which 
he  is  especially  invited.  For  want  of  more  docility 
in  this  respect,  it  is  probable,  we  have  often  sustain- 
ed loss.  Permit  us  here  to  suggest  two  or  three 
heads  of  inquiry.  You  have  sometimes  felt  a  pecu- 
liar seriousness  of  mind,  the  delusive  glare  of 
worldly  objects  has  faded  away,  or  become  dim  be- 
fore your  eyes,  and  death  and  eternity,  appearing 
at  the  door,  have  filled  the  whole  field  of  vision. 
Have  you  improved  such  seasons  for  fixing  those 
maxims  and  establishing  those  practical  conclusions 
which  may  produce  an  habitual  sobriety  of  mind, 
when  things  appear  under  a  different  aspect?  You 
have  sometimes  found,  instead  of  a  reluctance  to 
pray,  a  powerful  impulse  to  that  exercise,  so  that 
you  felt  as  if  you  could  do  nothing  else.  Have 
you  always  complied  with  these  motions,  and  suf- 

38 


fered  nothing  but  the  claims  of  absolute  necessity  to 
divert  you  from  pouring  out  your  hearts  at  a  throne 
of  grace  ?  The  Spirit  is  said  to   make  intercession 
for  saints,  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered  ; 
when   you   have   felt  those  ineffable  longings  after 
God,  have  you  indulged  them  to  the  utmost?  Have 
you  spread  every  sail,  launched  forth  into  the  deep 
of  the  divine  perfections  and  promises,  and  possess- 
ed yourselves  as  much  as  possible  of  the  fulness  of 
God  ?  There  are  moments  when  the  conscience  of 
a  good  man  is   more   tender,  has  a  nicer  and  more 
discriminating  touch,  than  usual ;  the  evil  of  sin  in 
general,  and  of  his  own  in  particular,  appears  in  a 
more  pure  and  piercing  light.     Have  you  availed 
yourselves  of  such  seasons  as  these  for  searching 
into    ^^  the   chambers  of  imagery,"  and  while  you 
detected  greater  and  greater  abominations,  been  at 
pains  to  bring  them  out,  and  slay  them  before  tba 
Lord  ?  Have  such  visitations  effected  something  to- 
wards the  mortification  of  sin  ?  Or  have  they  been 
suffered  to  expire  in  mere   ineffectual  resolutions  ? 
The  fruits    which    godly   sorrow  produced  in   the 
Corinthians  are  thus  beautifully  portrayed  :  "  What 
can,fulness  it  wrought  in  y;  u,  yea,  what  clearing  of 
yourselves,  yea    what   indignation,  yea  what  fear, 
yea  what  vehement   desire,  yea  what   revenge  !'' 
Tliere  are  moments  in  the  experience  of  a  good  man, 
when   he  feels  a   more  than   ordinary  softness  of 
mind ;  the  frost  of  selfishness    dissolves,  and   his 


S99 

heart  flows  forth  in  love  to  God  and  liis  fellow- 
creatures.  How  careful  should  we  be  to  cherish 
such  a  frame,  and  to  embrace  the  opportunity  of 
subduing  resentments,  and  of  healing  those  scars 
and  wounds  which  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  avoid 
in  passing  through  this  unquiet  world  ! 

There  is  a  holy  skill  in  turning  the  several  parts 
of  Christian  experience  to  account,  analogous  to 
what  the  votaries  of  the  world  display  in  the  im- 
provement of  every  conjuncture  from  which  it  is 
possible  to  derive  emolument ;  and  though  the  end 
they  propose  is  mean  and  contemptible,  the  steadi- 
ness with  which  they  pursue  it,  and  their  dexterity 
in  the  choice  of  means,  deserve  imitation.  In  these 
respects  ^'  they  are  wiser  in  their  generation  than 
the  children  of  light.'' 

Do  not  allow  yourselves  to  indulge  in  religious 
sloth,  or  to  give  way  to  the  solicitations  of  the 
tempter,  from  a  confidence  in  the  safety  of  your 
state,  or  in  your  spiritual  immunities  as  Christ- 
ians.— The  habitual  prevalence  of  such  a  disposi- 
tion will  afford  a  much  stronger  proof  of  insincerity 
than  any  arguments  which  can  be  adduced  for  the 
contrary  ;  and  admittiug  your  pretensions  to  piety 
to  be  ever  so  valid,  a  little  reflection  may  convince 
you,  that  a  careless  aud  negligent  course  will  lay 
you  open  to  the  severest  rebukes.  <^  You  only  have 
I  known,"  (says  the  Lord  by  the  prophet)  "of  all 


300 

the  families  of  the  earth ,  therefore  will  I  punish 
you  for  all  your  iniquities." 

Remember,  dear  brethren !  we  profess  a  peculiar 
relation  to  God  as  his  children,  his  witnesses,  his 
people,  his  temple ;  the  character  of  that  glorious 
Being  and  of  his  religion  will  be  contemplated  by 
the  world,  chiefly  through  the  medium  of  our  spirit 
and  conduct,  which  ought  to  display,  as  in  a  mir- 
ror, the  virtues  of  Him  Avho  "  hath  called  you  out 
of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light."  It  is  strictly 
appropriate  to  the  subject  of  our  present  medita- 
tions, to  remind  you  that  you  are  ^'  temples."  ^'  For 
ye,"  says  the  apostle,  ^'  are  the  temples  of  the 
living  God,  as  God  hath  said,  I  will  dwell  in  them, 
and  walk  in  them,  and  I  will  be  their  God,  and  they 
shall  be  my  people."  What  purity,  sanctity,  and 
dignity  may  be  expected  in  persons  who  bear  such 
a  character!  A  christian  should  look  upon  himself 
as  something  sacred  and  devoted,  so  that  what  in- 
volves but  an  ordinary  degree  of  criminality  in 
others,  in  hira  partakes  of  the  nature  of  sacrilege  ; 
what  is  a  breach  of  trust  in  others,  is  in  hira  the 
profanation  of  a  temple.  Let  us,  dear  brethren ! 
watch  and  pray,  that  nothing  may  be  allowed  a 
place  in  our  hearts,  tliat  is  not  suitable  to  the  re- 
sidence of  the  holy  and  blessed  God.  Finally, 
"^  having  such  great  and  precious  promises,  dearly 
beloved  !  let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  filthiness 
of  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of 
the  Lord." 


301 

Having  thus  endeavoured  to  lay  before  you  the 
most  likely  methods  of  obtaining  the   communica- 
tions of  the    Spirit,   as  well  as  to  show  the  great 
importance  of  this  gift,  we  might  now  dismiss  the 
subject,  were  we  not  desirous  of  first  guarding  you 
against  a   dangerous   mistake.      The    mistake   to 
which  we  refer,  is   that  of  taking  conviction   for 
conversion,  certain  impressions   of  the   guilt  and 
danger  of  sin  made  upon  the  conscience,  for  the  sav- 
ing  operations  of  the   Spirit.     These  convictions 
are  important :  it  is  highly  desirable  and  neces- 
sary to  have  a  settled  persuasion  of  tlie  established 
connection  betwixt  sin  and   punisliment,   and,  as  a 
natural  consequence,  to  feel   uneasiness  and  alarm, 
in  proportion    as  we  have   reason  to   believe   our 
sins  are  yet  unpardoned.     Until  we  see  ourselves 
lost,  we  shall  never  truly  come   to    Christ  for  sal- 
vation.    Until  we  feel   our  malady,  and  dread  its 
consequences,  we  shall  never  have  recourse  to  the 
Physician,  or  be  willing  to   comply  with  his   pre- 
scription.    We  adjure  you,  therefore,  as  you  value 
your  eternal  interests,  not  to  trifle  with  convictions, 
or  to  endeavour  to  wear  off  religious  concern   and 
uneasiness,  by  the  vanities  of  life  and  the  stupefac- 
tions   of  pleasure.     Regard    and  cherish  them  as 
the  sacred  visitations  of  Heaven,  look  upon  them 
as  mercifully  designed  to  rouse  and  awaken  you 
from   a  fatal  stupor.     They  are  often  tiie  harbin- 
gers  of  mercy.     Wherever  the  Spirit  of  God  is  in 
reality,  he  will  convince  of  ^'in ;  but  conviction  is 


302 

produced  in  thousands  who  still  remain  destitute  of 
saving  grace.    That  influence  of  the  Spirit  by  which 
a  change  of  heart  is  eflfected,  is  essentially  different 
from  that  distress  and  alarm  which  may  be  resolved 
into  the  exercise  of  mere  natural  conscience.     For 
a  man  to  be  convinced  that  he  is  a  sinner,  and  to 
treml)le  at  the   apprehension  of  wrath   to  come,  is 
certainly  something  very  distinct  from  becoming  a 
new  creature.     Real  christians  have  not  only  per- 
ceived their  danger,  but  have  fled  for  refuge  ;  have 
not  only  been  less  or  more  troubled  with  a  sense  of 
guilt,  but,  in  consequence  of  coming  to  Christ,  have 
found   rest  for  their  souls.     On  a  review   of  your 
past  life,  you  perceive  innumerable  transgressions, 
it  may  be,   and   are   perfectly   convinced   that  you 
have  been  "  walking  according  to  the  course  of  this 
world,  according  to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the 
air.  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of 
disobedience."     So  far  it  is  well :   your  apprehen- 
sions are  just   and    well   founded,   and    your  sit- 
uation more  replete  with  danger  than  you  have  ever 
conceived  it  to  be.     Do  not,   however,  rest  here. 
Let  the  views  you  entertain  excite  you   the   more 
earnestly  to  press  into  the  kingdom  of  God.     Let 
them   engage  you  to   a  more  diligent  use   of  the 
means  of  grace  ;  and,   above  all,  let  them  lead  you 
to  fix  your  hope  and  trust  on  the  Redeemer,  whose 
blood  alone  can  cleanse  you  from  sin,   and  whose 
intercession  is   able  to  save   *'  to  the  uttermost  all 
that  come  unto  God  by  him.''  (Heb.  vii.  25.)  Apply 


303 

to  him  with  humble  faith  and  ardent  prayer,  and 
though  you  may  be  tempted  to  cherish  doubts  of 
the  extent  of  his  power  and  grace,  say  with  him  of 
old,  *^  Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  my  unbelief." 
Lay  aside,  as  far  as  possible,  every  other  coacern ; 
postpone  your  attention  to  every  other  object,  till 
you  have  reason  to  believe  you  have  obtained  mer- 
cy, and  are  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind. 
Address  the  throne  of  Grace  with  unceasing  impor- 
tunity, remembering  who  hath  said,  *•  ask,  and  ye 
shall  receive ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find.  Him  tliat 
Cometh  unto  me  1  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  lu  all 
your  addresses  to  God,  make  use  of  the  name  and 
intercession  of  Christ,  plead  the  efficacy  of  his 
blood,  and  the  encouragement  he  hath  afforded  sin- 
ners, in  his  gospel,  to  return  to  God.  Keep  a  con- 
tinual watch  over  your  words,  thoughts,  and  ac- 
tions :  keep  your  heart  with  all  diligence.  Guard, 
with  the  utmost  care,  against  levity  and  sloth,  two 
most  dangerous  snares  to  the  souls  of  men. 

If  you  ask,  how  you  may  know  whether  you 
are  partakers  of  the  special  grace  of  Gud  ;  we  re- 
ply. This  will  be  best  ascertained  by  its  fruits. 
When  you  feel  a  fixed  hatred  of  sin,  an  intense 
thirst  after  holiness  and  perfection,  and  a  delight  in 
the  word  and  ways  of  God ;  when  you  are  habitu- 
ally disposed  to  dwell  on  the  thoughts  of  Christ 
and  heaven ;  when  the  Saviour  appears  unspeaka- 
bly precious,  as   "  the  pearl  of  great  price,"   and 


304 

you  are  habitually  ready  to  part  with  every  thiug 
for  his  sake,  you  may  be  certain  that  you  are  born 
of  God.  These  are  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  which 
sufficiently  demonstrate  the  influence  and  presence 
of  that  blessed  Agent.  Till  you  have  experienced 
effects  of  this  kind,  you  arc  in  a  wretched  state, 
though  surrounded  with  all  the  brightest  earthly 
prospects,  because  you  are  estranged  from  God^ 
and  exposed  to  his  eternal  wrath  and  displeasure 


FINIS. 


1  A-^-  ^^         i^fe^- 


